


Little Orphan Luke

by Skyguyy



Series: Little Orphan Luke [1]
Category: Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Angst!, Annie the musical Au, Child Luke Skywalker, Crack Taken Seriously, Dad Vader, Darth Vader's A+ parenting, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Luke has no fear, Luke is a cinnamon roll, Parent Darth Vader, Sheev is a jerk, Vader doesn't know what to do with the Orphan, Vader doing his best, Vader is shook, With A Twist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25531897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyguyy/pseuds/Skyguyy
Summary: Luke grows up in an orphanage and the only thing he has of his parents is his mothers Japor Snippet. He is invited to stay at the Imperial Palace for a week. Darth Vader isn’t sure how he feels about having to deal with an Orphan.Annie the Musical AU
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader & Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader, Sheev Palpatine & Darth Vader, Sheev Palpatine & Luke Skywalker
Series: Little Orphan Luke [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984550
Comments: 179
Kudos: 348





	1. Its a Hard Knock Life

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea randomly and couldn’t stop thinking about it! Love Dad Vader so I hope this is good!

All nights living in the Corustants Home for Boys were hard, but some were harder than others. Luke sat on the ledge of his window, looking out. There wasn’t much of a view, street lights flickered on the desolate road, he was beneath the surface of the city. The lower levels of Coruscant were rough and dangerous, people whispered between each other about what it was like to leave and see the surface of the planet. Luke had heard rumors of something called the sun, but Luke found something like that hard to believe. He doubted anything like a big sphere in the sky brought light and warmth was real, warmth only came from wool blankets and broken down heaters in Luke’s experience. 

Luke hummed softly to himself, he gently pulled his necklace out that was tucked under his shirt. This japor snippet was with him since he was with a baby, he was told it was his mothers and was his most prized possession. Luke clutched it tightly and ran his fingers over the deep grooves carved into it, it was beautiful. Luke then felt something soft and plush hit him in the back, Luke turned quickly and saw one of the kids, Cen, sit halfway up in his bed.

“Get to bed Luke!” Cen hissed quietly, doing his best not to wake the others. Luke sighed and jumped from the ledge back into the room.

“Sorry, just couldn’t sleep,” Luke whispered back as he sat in his bed facing Cen, Cen huffed and lied back on his bed. 

“Luke, when will it sink in? Your parents aren’t alive- don’t waste your time thinking about them.” Luke rolled his eyes, Cen wouldn’t understand. Something in the galaxy told him that somewhere there was something that felt like a prenatal figure waiting for him, it tugged at him weakly every day. He had attempted running away from this place numerous times, but they never worked out, he always ended up being caught. 

“They are alive, I know it,” Luke whispered back, Luke saw one of the other boys throw their pillow on Cen.

“Let the boy dream!” Max laughed, Cen and Luke shushed him loudly, not wanting to wake Mr. Obrith, the man who ran this poor excuse for an orphanage. Luke knew this man was not fit for the job, it almost seemed like he lost some sort of bet and was stuck with the job. His dislike and little patience for children was evident and was put on sloppy displays when he drank too much Correllian whiskey. 

“Shh! You better be quiet before Mr. Obrith wakes up!” Cen ordered, Max laughed again.

“If Mr. Obrith wakes up we can blame the noise on Luke,” Luke stared at him incredulously.

“I am not going another morning without breakfast!” Luke shouted a little too loudly, waking some other kids in the room. 

“Then stop being so damn loud,” Max teased, Luke picked up his pillow and threw it at Max. Max caught it, “Nice try, kid.” He threw the pillow back at Luke hard and he fell back on his bed. Luke grumbled as he sat back up, other kids in the room sounded annoyed by all the noise.

“Go to bed!” One of them complained tiredly, “Its 0300!” Max stood up quickly and walked to the complaining kid.

“Don’t try and tell me what to do, worm!” Max pointed hard at the child, the intensity that floated through the room fizzled once they heard loud stomping run up the stairs. Max, who only a second ago was acting as tough as he could, scurried quickly to bed. All the other kids threw their bedsheets over them, pretending to sleep, Luke did the same. 

The door swooshed open and heard Mr. Obrith shuffle in, “What is going on here!?!” He barked, all the kids still putting up a facade of being sound asleep. “I know you’re pretending, I heard you boys having a party up here!” Still, none of them budged, hoping he would just go away. He paced the room, the floor creaking under his footsteps. “If you boys are so awake- then I guess you can get started on your work!” Mr. Obrith punched the control panel on the wall, switching on the yellow tinted lights. All of them groaned and twisted in their sheets.

Luke sat up in his bed. Sure, he was upset to do work around the facility, but he wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep that night. Some nights he was so restless and grew more impatient as he waited for his parents to come back and get him. How long were they going to make him wait? While he cleaned up around the place he could imagine what it would be like for his parents to come and claim him, to take him home, because this place was the farthest thing from feeling like a home. 

Luke and the others climbed out of their beds, Luke threw on a brown jacket, it was cold in the lower levels of the planet. “I am getting something to drink…” Mr. Obrith mumbled under his breath, “Get to work!” He ordered before leaving the room. 

“Nice going, Luke,” Cen hissed, Luke slumped his shoulders and walked out of the room to begin the chores for the day.

* * *

Vader walked down the halls of the Palace with a swift determination, the Emperor had requested to speak with him. Orders from the Emperor were to be taken seriously, if someone were to get in his way they would quickly meet their end. The reason why the Emperor wanted to meet with him was unknown, the Lieutenant never got to say. The doors to the large throne room opened, revealing a large room with tall windows lining either side, giving a large view of Coruscant. Large golden chandeliers hung elegantly from the tall ceilings, Vader walked the stretch from the doors to the dias, which the jewel-encrusted throne sat upon. 

Vader kneeled before him, the very act was painful, pain stabbed through him as Sidious stared down at him. “How may I be of service, my master?”

“Rise, my friend.” Vader stood up and faced Sidious. “I am afraid your recent mission has caused quite a scandal. What transpired on Onderon upset many citizens of the Empire,” Vader recalled his latest mission, it was a blood bath. Many citizens, even unarmed ones, joined in the insurgency. He and his troops mowed through them as though they weren’t even there. There was no mercy, any and all were in great danger if they got in his way. 

“A large donation to the Imperial City Academy should settle any doubts about you, my master.” Sidious slowly shook his head and sat back in his seat.

“That will not be enough, unfortunately.” Sidious drummed his fingers on the armchair of his throne, “Coruscant has a unique pest infestation, orphans, while I will have them be dealt with, I believe hosting one here shall cover up any scandal on Onderon.” Vader almost didn’t believe what he had heard, Sidious wanted to bring an orphan here? He knew better than to question the Emperors orders, he chose to not act shocked in any way.

“I shall have someone retrieve an orphan for you, my master.” Vader paused, “Are you planning on having the child stay at the palace?”

“The child shall stay in a spare room somewhere, as for you, because of what you have done on Onderon, you shall keep guard over the orphan” Sidious wanted Vader to be a glorified babysitter?! He couldn’t believe his punishment was guarding some insolent child. He supposed he had been too careless, but he was so encapsulated by the dark side. The force filled him with its dark energy, chugging through him like a large train moving forward. “It is only temporary, Lord Vader, I want you to keep the child out of my sight as long as possible while they are here.” 

“As you wish, my master.” 

“Have the child here as soon as possible, you are dismissed,” Sidious said with the wave of his hand, Vader turned and swiftly marched back towards the hall, leaving the throne room. Once he knew he was out of sight of Sidious, he clenched his fists tightly. He hated the idea of guarding a child, he hated children. He began to wonder if he preferred punishments where he was electrocuted by force lightening to having to watch a petulant child. 

If Vader was ordered to keep the child from Sidious, what was the point of having him here? He supposed the public wasn’t going to hear the smaller details, all they will know is that the Emperor invited an orphan to stay at the palace. This was a large act and would shock most of the citizens of the Empire, this would definitly coverup his failure on Onderon.

Vader pulled out his comlink and commed his personal Lieutenant, Lekauf. “Greetings, my Lord.”

“Under the Emperors orders, retrieve an orphan child and bring them to the palace,” Vader ordered, the com was silent for a moment.

“Yes, my Lord,” Lekauf’s voice sounded confused but didn’t want to question the Sith Lord. “I will have an orphan soon.” Vader cut the com and felt hot anger flowing through him, still furious at the job Sidious had given him. His job was to crush enemies, terrorists who threatened to overthrow and assassinate the Emperor. Sidious had given him a demeaning job, something a mall security trooper could do. 

It angered Vader without end, he stormed his way to the Detention Center. Luckily, his mission to Onderon did leave him with something to take his anger out on. He captured Rebels, he would interrogate them relentlessly, torture them beyond recognition. He swiftly left the palace, knowing next time he would be here, an insolent orphan would be wondering the halls.

* * *

Luke and the others had been doing chores the rest of the morning, at this point all the work was done, now it was just busy work. Luke hated that the most, it was just a waste of time. When the lights outside turned on, lighting up the lower levels, Luke was able to grab a small breakfast. If wasn’t very good but he had to eat something, right?

Luke, later on, found himself wiping the glass of the front of the orphanage in large concentric circles, trying to get any and all smudges off. But one of the older boys kept placing their hand on the glass to create more work for him, Luke rung the towel tightly and swapped it at the boy. “Stop!” He commanded, the boy screwed his face tight and towered over Luke.

“What was that, worm?!” He balled his fists tightly, Luke attempted to try and seem somewhat tough but knew he could never win a fight against this boy. Max then quickly came towards them and stood between Luke and the boy.

“Hey hey, Vero, leave the small fry alone, he is just a kid.” Max held his hands up defensively, Vero huffed but Luke scoffed.

“Don’t call me  _ small fry _ !” Luke ground out, trying to seem menacing, as he stared up the two older boys, Vero narrowed his eyes at Max then walked away into another room. Max turned around and looked down at Luke.

“Don’t pick fights you can’t win,” Max said, Luke looked down. Max was probably right, he didn’t like admitting it though, most of the times he was a jerk. Max turned to leave, Luke was alone now. He looked out the window and thought this was perhaps a good time to try and escape. 

Luke looked around himself, really making sure he was alone before walking through a seating area to a side door. This side exit led to an ally and was usually unlocked for when someone would take out the trash. Luke crept towards it and pushed the control panel command to open it. 

The door swooshed open, Luke felt a rush of excitement. He stepped out slowly, doing his best to be as quiet as possible. He quietly crept through the ally that led to the main road, unlike earlier this morning, the street was busy. Vendors and shoppers were set up all along the street, they tried to sell incredibly cheap and poor products to the public, if you were lucky, you could find fresh fruit. 

Luke peered out onto the main road, making sure there were no security patrols roaming the street. He was always caught by them and returned back here, didn’t they understand this place was horrible? He needed to go and find his parents, maybe they lost their directions here and that’s why they have been gone for so long, it was the only reasonable explanation. If they couldn’t find Luke, he would find them.

He quickly and seamlessly joined into the flow of people, acting as natural as possible. So far, this escape was going as normal as it usually did, what was unusual was the sound of gasps in the crowd. Luke pushed past a couple of people to see why people were so shocked when Luke saw the fanciest speeder he had ever seen in his entire lift. The crowd gathered around it, all shocked that something could look so new and clean. 

The speeder door opened, a man in a grey sleek uniform stepped out and looked around at the crowd. Luke couldn’t tell if he was disgusted or sympathetic, the man cleared his throat. “Uhm- Where is the Coruscant Home for Boys?” He asked the crowd, Luke stepped hesitantly forward towards the man.

“I-Its right there,” Luke said as he pointed to the building behind him which had a large sign, the man laughed softly.

“Of course- are you one of the orphans?” Luke bit his lip and looked side to side.

“No-”

“Yes, he is!” Luke felt a hand land on his shoulder, Luke looked up over his shoulder and saw Mr. Obrith hovering over him. “This kids a trouble maker.” Obrith paused and looked up at the man. “Who are you? What are you doing here?” The man looked slightly taken aback at the bluntness of Mr. Obrith.

“Well, I am Lieutenant Lekauf, I am here on the Emperor’s request. He would like to host a child at the palace for a week, I believe.”

“The Emperor!?” Obrith and Luke asked, both incredibly shocked.

“Yes-” Lekauf looked down at Luke and smiled, “Maybe this little guy could-”

“No, I promise you Lek-Le- oh whatever, I assure you, we have more disciplined children than this one.” Obrith squeezed Luke's shoulders tightly, “Why don’t you come on in?” Lekauf nodded, Obrith turned around and walked with Luke back into the orphanage, Lekauf followed behind him. “Boys! Line up!” Obrith yelled from the entrance, at once a loud sound of tumbling and running came from every direction

All the boys lined up in the sitting room, Luke joined in feeling quite small compared to the rest of them. “What are the age ranges?”

“The youngest we have is 8, the oldest we have is 16.” Mr. Obrith informed, Lekauf placed his fist under his chin as he examined the row of boys. He stopped in front of Luke and smiled.

“You sure? This one right here looks to be about 7.” Lekauf pointed to Luke as he looked at Mr. Obrith. Luke’s mouth dropped open and stomped his foot lightly.

“I am not 7! I am 10!” Luke folded his arms and huffed, Lekauf chuckled softly. Mr. Obrith also folded his arms over his chest and sighed.

“I think I know the age of the kids I keep here.” 

“Sir- Rix is 6.” One of the boys mentioned, Mr. Obrith groaned.

“Oh- whatever,” Lekauf didn’t stop smiling at Luke, Luke felt slightly awkward under his gaze and looked to the floor.

“This one- I think he will be a perfect candidate.” Lekauf smiled as he pointed to Luke, Luke lit up and jumped somewhat excitedly. Obrith let out a long sigh and walked over to Lekauf and Luke.

“Alright- but don’t come cryin to me if he gets in a load of trouble, I warned ya.” 

“I am sure that won’t happen,” Lekauf smiled, Obrith nudged Luke on the shoulder.

“Go get your stuff,” He barked, Luke nodded quickly and ran from the line-up of boys up the stairs. His heart thumped rapidly, his stomach twisted into tight knots. He couldn’t believe it, he was going to be staying at the Imperial Palace for a whole week! That’s all the way up on the surface, someplace he had never been to before! He wondered what it would be like, if they had better lights that lit up during the day or cleaner water. 

He ran into the room him and the boys shared towards his bunk, the only thing he had was a pair of clothes. He grabbed them and threw them in a random bag that lay on the floor, he felt more nervous then he had ever felt before. He had a million stories he planned on telling his parents when they came to get him, but this one was going to be the best of them all. 

He ran back down the stairs with his bag and spare clothes and walked towards Lekauf. “Are you ready to go?” Lekauf asked.

“Let me just say goodbye first,” Luke walked up to the row of children and waved goodbye to them.

“Bye Luke!”

“See you later, kid!” 

“Bring me a souvenir!” Luke smiled brightly.

“Goodbye, you guys!” Max ruffled his hair, Luke then felt a hand rest on his shoulder and looked up. Lekauf began to direct him to the door, “So- what’s the Palace like?” Luke asked as they left the building. Luke saw there was still a crowd outside of the speeder, Lekauf pushed through them making room for both of them. 

“It’s incredibly elegant, large and filled with very important people.” Lekauf opened the back door of the speeder for Luke, “I think you will like it there.” Luke nervously climbed in the speeder, it smelled so clean. He sat on the black leather and instantly felt more comfortable then he had ever felt before in his life. Lekauf shut the speeder door and climbed into the front in the pilot’s seat. The speeder began to lift, Luke looked out the window at the Orphanage and at the crowd that surrounded where the speeder once was. He felt so anxious yet excited, wishing there was a word for a combination for the two. 

The speeder flew in the direction to the large exit of the lower levels of Courscant, speeders flew up and down this cavernous corridor that went down to the very core and up to the cities surface. It was dangerous to look over the edge and try to see the bottom, but it didn’t stop Luke on days when he was curious enough to look. More excited he had been in a long time, Luke sat in the back of the speeder trying to remember everything he saw so he could tell his parents.


	2. I Think I'm Gonna Like it Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little Orphan Luke arrives at the Palace and meets the famous Sith Lord, Vader is being a real jerk to him :(

Rising from the shadowy depths of Coruscant's underground district, Luke saw the sky. He looked out of the speeders window, so close his breathing created a fog on the glass. The sky was a beautiful light blue and there it was, the sun! Or maybe it was just a giant light bulb, either way, it was so impressive something so small could light up everything on the surface. 

“Woah!” Luke breathed, Lekauf chuckled softly.

“You like the look of the city?” 

“Yeah!” Luke smiled, “It's so different from what I imagined.” Luke examined the skyscrapers that were scattered through the sprawling cityscape. He watched all the speeders zig-zag through traffic, loud honking from most of them as they impatiently waited to fly through the city. It was so different from the depths of the city.

“A bad different?”

“No, it's an amazing different.” Luke pressed his hand against the glass and looked out over the view to get the best look of the city. Luke began to notice that they were flying through a special lane that was less packed than most of them down below them. “What is this lane for?”

“It's for government officials only, it allows them to move through the city as quickly as they need to,” Lekauf informed, Luke nodded slowly. Luke’s eyes moved around over the city's view and his eyes landed on a huge building with five towering spires.

“What's that!!” Luke asked.

“That is the Imperial Palace,” Lekauf smiled, “I’ll be giving you a tour.” Luke watched excitedly as they neared the palace and landed on one of the landing pads. Lekauf popped open the driver's side door then opened Lukes, Luke stepped out and breathed in the air. It was a lot more clear on the surface but Luke felt something cold brush up against him. Luke hugged himself and looked up at Lekauf.

“What is that? It's so cold..” 

“Wha- oh, its the wind, Luke.” Lekauf eyed him, “I guess I never considered that you had never felt the wind before.” 

“Luckily I brought my jacket.” Luke smiled as he threw it on, “Let's go!” Lekauf smiled and began to lead him towards the front entrance. They walked up the steep staircase and into the palace, Luke’s eyes widened. He had never seen anything more beautiful in his entire life, there were beautiful artworks hung high up on the walls with chandeliers hanging from the tall ceilings. The floor was a glossy marble, Luke could see his reflection on the floor. 

Lekauf pulled out a comlink, “I have brought the orphan to the palace, my Lord.” Luke watched Lekauf curiously, the com was silent for a moment before Luke heard the deepest voice he had ever heard.

“I shall arrive at the palace as soon as possible,” Luke softly gasped at the sound of the deep robotic voice, the com was cut and Lekauf looked down. 

“Lord Vader will be meeting with you soon, Luke.” Luke blinked confused, wasn’t too sure who he was speaking about. Lekauf quirked his mouth, “Do you not know who that is?”

“No,” Luke shook his head, “Who is he?” 

“He is the second hand to the Emperor, he is in control of the entire Imperial Navy and one of the founders of the Empire. He is a very important man Luke, not many get to speak with him.” Luke smiled brightly.

“Wow! A whole navy!?” Luke jumped slightly, he couldn't believe he was meeting someone as powerful as him, or even the Emperor for that matter. Excitement flooded his veins, he couldn’t wait to tell the boys back at the orphanage when he got back. Lekauf nudged Luke on the back.

“Let's show you around,” Lekauf smiled, they walked down the massive hallway. Luke’s eyes were wide as to not miss anything he saw. Luke never knew something could be so massive, he was shown sections of the palace where they conduct Imperial work, medcenter, dining halls, ballrooms, Luke thought something this big ought to have a map. He wondered how long it would take for everyone at the orphanage to clean something as big as this. 

“-And down there is the Emperor's throne room.” Lekauf smiled, Luke looked down the grand hall with a large set of doors at the end. Red Imperial guards were flanked on either side, light poured in from the large windows. Luke wandered down the hall to get a better look at everything, Lekauf walked behind him. “Oh- and here.” Luke stuffed his hand in his pocket and handed Luke a comlink, “I have put in my frequency in there, com me if you need me.” Luke turned the com over in his hand, closely examining it.

“Wow- thanks!” Luke smiled as he placed the com in his pocket. 

“The last thing to show you in your room,” Lekauf smiled, “let me show yo-” Large doors at the end of the hall opened, a huge dark figure walked quickly towards them. Luke's mouth dropped open at the sight, Lekauf bowed, Luke panicked and clumsily bowed as well so he was not rude but accidentally fell to the ground. He quickly stood back up, feeling incredibly embarrassed. The dark figure stood right in front of them, his hands placed on his belt. Luke listened to his loud breathing, or, it’s? Was this a droid? Maybe it's breathing was created to seem more human-like, it had a load of buttons on the front. 

“Greetings, Lord Vader.” Lekauf said and placed a hand on Luke's shoulder, “This is the orphan, Luke.” Luke's eyes widened as he realized this was Vader, they were in charge of the entire navy and worked with the Emperor. Luke thought his presence was slightly intimidating, But Luke always believed in the benefit of the doubt, maybe he was just scary on the outside. Luke took in a deep breath for bravery.

“Hello, Vader!!” Luke waved his hand, Lekauf breathed in sharply, Vader pointed at Luke.

“You shall address me only as Lord Vader!” Luke’s eyes widened, not expecting to be yelled at. “In addition, do not speak to me unless spoken to!” Luke shrunk into himself as he nodded slowly. “Come, we must bring you to the Emperor, you are dismissed Lekauf.” Lekauf nodded quickly and walked down the hall, leaving Vader and Luke. 

“What's the Emperor like?” Luke asked.

“What did I say about speaking with me?” 

“Oh- not to unless you speak with me,” Luke shrugged, “Sorry, I just have a lot of questions.” He looked down at the floor.

“Keep them to yourself, I do not have time to answer the questions of a petulant child.” Luke sighed and followed Vader down the hall. Large doors swung open, Luke looked around the throne room in amazement. Luke looked down on the floor at his reflection and waved at it as he walked towards the throne. He looked up and stopped at the foot of the dias, which the throne sat upon. Luke had to hold back a loud gasp when he set his gaze upon the Emperor’s decrepit face. 

“So- you're the orphan that shall be staying with us?” The Emperor's piss-yellow eyes narrowed on Luke, Luke swallowed hard and nodded slowly.

“Uh- yes sir..” Luke said quietly, feeling very self-conscious about being next to the two most powerful men in the galaxy.

“What is your name, child?” The Emperor asked as he leaned closer towards him in his throne, casting more light onto his face. Luke almost stepped back at the sight, wondering what could have caused him to look this way.

“Luke,” He said, “I don’t know my last name on account of the fact that don’t know who my parents are- but I have my mothers necklace and-”

“Neither the Emperor nor I, care about your mother's necklace.” Vader interrupted, Luke had been reaching to pull the necklace out from under his shirt to show but stopped. Vader was being a real jerk to him, Luke hadn’t done anything! Vader was kinda scary though, so he listened to him so he wouldn’t be yelled at.

“Lawrence-” The Emperor growled, “Vader here shall be your personal guard while you are here. This evening we will display you to the press.”

“Why?” Luke asked, assuming that _he_ was the ‘Lawrence’ the Emperor was referring to, “Am I a big deal?”

“You are the first orphan to stay at the palace,” Vader informed, “The public would like to know who you are.” Luke felt his stomach twist in knots, everyone on Coruscant wants to know him? He was just some orphan, why would they care about him? What would they think of him? He doesn’t need pity from the public.

“Its this evening?” Luke asked.

“Yes,” The Emperor confirmed, he turned his gaze to Vader and smiled creepily, “Why don’t you take young Linus to teach him manners.” Vader stood still for a moment then bowed, Luke held himself back from correcting the Emperor about his real name but had a feeling the Emperor didn't really care.

“Yes, my Master.” Luke was nervous about spending more time with the droid/man, maybe he was the kind of guy who just took a while to warm up to someone. Luke didn’t know how well that theory would hold up. Vader looked down at Luke, “Follow me.” Vader turned and walked down the hall, Luke scampered behind him. They exited the throne room, Luke had to run to keep up with the- the-.

“Are you a droid?” Luke finally asked.

“Did I just give you permission to ask me a question?”

“No.” Luke paused, “But are you?”

“I will not dignify your question with an answer,” Vader said, “It is none of your concern as to what I am.” Luke was quiet for a while as they walked down the halls, they turned a corner and walked to a door. Vader punched the panel on the wall and the door swooshed open, they walked into the bedroom and Luke’s eyes lit up.

“Woah!” Luke ran into the room and jumped onto the bed, “So soft!” He rolled off the bed and looked out the viewport, “A real view! With the big light bulb!” Luke pointed to the small dot in the sky.

“That is the sun.” He folded his arms, “Though I am not surprised you do not know what it is.” Luke looked at it in surprise.

“Is it really a big ball of fire!?” 

“Yes, well- it is more complex than that. But essentially, yes.” Luke squinted his eyes and looked at it, his eyes began to burn and he looked away.

“Ouch!” Luke rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands, he opened his eyes and blinked quickly. “I see spots!!! I see spots!!!” He began to panic, was he going to lose his vision!? “Help me! I see spots!” He furrowed his brows as he kept blinking quickly.

“Did you stare into the sun?!” Luke nodded, he heard Vader sigh. “If you wish to keep your eyesight, I would recommend keeping your eyes away from the sun,” Luke nodded again and noticed the spots were beginning to disappear from his vision. 

“It's just so cool,” Luke smiled and looked back out over the sky, though, avoiding the sun. “I want to go out to space so bad…” His mind began to run wild with what it would be like to fly through space and go on grand adventures. Maybe one of his parents flew spaceships, maybe one his parents would fly him far away and they could live together as a family.

“I must prepare you for tonight's exposure to the press,” Vader said, breaking the silence. Luke reluctantly pulled himself from the viewport and walked towards Vader. Slightly nervous to be the spotlight of the news. Coming to the palace hadn’t been exactly like he had envisioned, not like some amazing dream and paradise. He would try to make the best of it, he was sure any one of the kids back at the orphanage would be more than happy to trade places, so he did his best to be grateful.

* * *

Last night's public exposure of Luke went as well as can be expected when you take an orphan from the underground and bring them to the surface. Vader had taught him everything the child would let him, Vader hated being brought down to such a level as being a teacher. This was not a job, this was a punishment, he cursed himself for being so reckless on Onderon. He was stuck with babysitting essentially. As he taught the child he found Luke severely lacked social skills, though, anyone with an upbringing in the undergrounds of the city did. Vader had surprised himself, this child had challenged his patience several times. Not many had survived challenging him more than once, but this child, this boy, he was an anomaly.

He was strong in the force, there was no doubt about that. Perhaps he was the child of a Jedi, rare but not unheard of. Sidious would want to discuss the potential threat, all children of the force were executed. Seeing as this child has already been chosen and was already shown to the public, it was too late to find another. Not to mention, Vader had felt a small tug to the boy, he was not sure what it was. It was like a small thread, he pulled at it to see why they were attached in some way. The thread led to nothing so far, he would find out why they were attached some other time.

Vader walked into Luke's room, still dark, he had shut the blinds completely. Vader used the force to open them quickly and turn on the lights. Luke shot up in his bed and rubbed his eyes, “Wake up,” he commanded. Luke slowly jumped out of bed, he was wearing his old clothes from the orphanage still. They had just fitted and supplied Luke with a week worth of clothing. Despite being here for a day already, he was still rather dirty, the Emperor had wanted Luke to look as poor as possible to gain as much sympathy from the public. Having Luke look rich in the public's eye would not have been as appealing, well, that's what the Emperor had believed.

“What are we gonna do today?” Luke asked as he continued to rub his eyes, “Can we go to the mall? Or no, how about the movies!?”

“We will not do anything of the sort! Vader informed, “I must begin repairs on my personal TIE, you may join me if you would like.” Vader sourly suggested, usually, working on his TIE was the only time for himself. The only time he genuinely enjoyed something, sacrificing it to have a child join was practically painful, but he had to keep watch over the child and his TIE was in desperate need of repair.

“Okay!” Luke smiled, “I have always wanted to see inside of a TIE!” 

“But first I must meet with the Emperor.” Luke nodded, “I will not be long, stay in this room while I am away.” Luke nodded before Vader turned to leave. He walked down the halls in the direction towards the Emperor's throne room, luckily, Luke’s room was not far. If he were to take a guess, he expected this to be about the boy's power in the force. They were to discuss what was to be done about the child, the most probable outcome was the boy's demise. 

Vader reached the entrance to the throne room, the Imperial guards pushed the door open and he walked towards the dias where the Emperor sat upon. He kneeled, his cybernetics digging into his joins, he waited for the Emperor to say something.

“You have felt it haven’t you?” Sidious growled, “The boy's power.”

“I have felt it, my master.” Vader confirmed, “What do you think is the best course of action?” 

“The child must be executed, naturally, he is strong in the force.” Sidious squinted his eyes, “We must not allow him to grow to his potential.” 

“It shall be done, my master.”

“Wait till the end of the week, people will notice if he suddenly disappears in our _care_. I do not need another scandal.” The Emperor’s eyes narrowed on Vader, “You are dismissed.” He stood from his kneeling position and turned to walk out of the throne room. As he walked back towards Luke’s room, he felt something strange, something he couldn’t easily dismiss.

He had killed children before, it had not bothered him in the slightest. So why did this particular child set off something in him, a feeling of urgency? Something in his resisted at the idea of killing him, he felt it slowly grow powerful. The idea of the mission to kill the boy was met with something close to dread. Why had the thought of this boy’s death bothered him so much? Why did they have some strange connection? The force was at work, there was no doubt about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you thought!


	3. Daddy Meanbucks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My sister made me call this chapter Daddy Meanbucks haha

“So what is it like?! Can I fly your TIE!? Have you been close to a star!? Have you been to every planet!?” Luke asked joyfully as he followed Vader with a skip in his step. Vader was taking him to his TIE, which Luke was so excited about. He has seen TIE models before, some of his friends from the orphanage had them. 

“Flying is a complicated skill one gains over time, a child of your age is not fit to begin to fly.” Vader said as he entered a hangar, “-And no, I have not been to every planet. It is not possible.”

“Hmm..” Luke looked to the floor, “Well, I will see every planet.” He smiled.

“I doubt that. Likely, you will never leave Coruscant.” Vader said as he continued through the hangar, Luke gasped at the sight. The hangar was huge with a big TIE stationed in the center of the room. Luke had forgotten the disparaging comment Vader had made and ran through the hangar towards the TIE. Just as he was about to reach out and touch the ship he felt the strong grip of Vaders gloved hands wrap around his wrist. Luke froze and stared wide-eyed at the mask. “Do not touch my ship.” 

Luke nodded quickly, Vader stared at him for a few moments longer and released him. Luke took a couple of step backs and rubbed his wrists as he watched Vader open up a panel on one of his wings. Luke wandered a little closer to get a better look, everything about the ship was so interesting. Vader turned and looked down at Luke, “Your presence is distracting me, you must not be too close.”

Luke rocked back and forth on his feet, “Well, where do you want me to go?” Vader made a sound that Luke guessed was a sigh and led him over a good distance from where Vader was working.

“Stay here, do not move.” Luke frowned.

“You want me to stay here the whole time?!”

“Yes.”

“That's so boring!!!” Luke whined, “Can I sit in the cockpit!? Please! Oh please oh please!!!” Vader just stared down at him.

“If I did not want you to touch my ship, what makes you think I shall allow you to sit in the cockpit?” Luke blinked quickly then shrugged.

“I dunno…” Luke looked down, “I just wanted to see your ship, is all..” 

“I believe you have a perfectly fine view of my ship from here,” Vader said and turned back towards his ship and pulled over a tray of tools. He began to tinker on the wing of his ship, Luke watched at first patiently but as time went on he grew more impatient and antsy. 

“What- Whatcha doin!?” Luke asked, Vader didn’t respond. Luke bit his lip and furrowed his brows, “Hey-”

“I heard you the first time,” Vader said quickly.

“Well, you didn’t respond!” 

“Because I will not answer ridiculous questions of some child,” Vader snapped, Luke sighed and plopped down on the ground. This was boring, this was the first ship Luke ever saw and he was so _so_ close to it! All he was doing was watching Vader from behind work on the wing, which wasn’t entertaining at all. Vader walked over to the cockpit and turned the ship on, Luke’s mouth dropped open.

“Wow!” Luke gasped, “Why’d you turn it on!?”

“To make sure what I am working on is fixed,” Vader stated as he walked back to the wing, Luke stood up again deciding he couldn’t sit his enthusiasm away.

“Uhm- Maybe, do you think I could just walk around the ship?” Luke asked, he held his breath slightly as he waited for his answer. Vader turned around and crossed his arms over his chest.

“If I let you walk around it from a great distance, will you stop bothering me and stay quiet?” Vader asked, Luke nodded with a smile.

“Yes, sir!” Luke jumped, Vader sighed.

“Very well, just one lap around the ship.” Luke smiled and slowly walked around the ship, not taking his eyes off of it for one moment. It was probably the greatest thing he had ever seen, he stood on his tippy toes to see into the cockpit the best he could. He wished he could sit in it, fly it into space, see everything the galaxy had to offer. He looked at the wings, they were huge and different from regular TIE’s he had seen. 

The TIE was a magnificent sight to behold, once he rounded the backside of the ship and out of sight of Lord Vader he felt an urge to touch it. He looked side to side just to make sure he was clear and ran up to the ship and placed his hand on it.

“Owch!” Luke cried as he pulled his hand back and held it close to him. His hand burned and pulsated slightly. He bent over as he breathed through the pain, his eyes squinted tightly. The lights from the hangar were blocked by the huge figure of Vader.

“What did you do?” Vader asked.

“I-I touched the ship and it was hot!” Luke said with a pained voice as the burning and stinging sensation in his hand grew by the second. Vader grabbed Luke’s wrist and looked at his hand.

“You have burned yourself on a hot part of the ship” Vader stated, “Follow me, you must go to the medbay.” Luke nodded and sniffed as he followed Vader. How could he be so stupid?! Why would he touch the ship after he was explicitly told not to!?

They walked down the halls of the palace, Vader stopped in the middle of the hall and punched a code into a panel by the door and it swooshed open. Vader stepped in and Luke followed, it was a small med bay, Vader walked over to a station where a med droid was powered down. Vader powered it on, its eyes lit up.

“Greetings, Lord Vader, how may I be of service?” The droid beeped.

“Tend to the boy's wound.” Vader said as he pointed towards Luke, the droid looked towards him. Luke tensed, feeling slightly scared of the large droid. 

“What is the patient’s name?” The droid asked as he stared at Luke.

“Luke,” Vader said, the droid was silent for a moment.

“There is no registry for  _ Luke _ .” 

“Well then make one!” Vader demanded, it was obvious he was losing his patience. The droid grabbed Luke’s arm and drew a small amount of blood and processed the information. The droid then looked at Luke’s burn and applied bacta to the palm of his hand. He felt instant relief on his burn and the droid wrapped a bandage around his hand.

Luke smiled, “Thank you.” The droid rolled back to its station and powered back down, Luke looked around the room. “I thought med bays were bigger than this.”

“They are, this is just for employees while on duty.” Vader stated, “Follow me, I must continue my modifications.” Vader left the med bay, Luke scampered behind him.

* * *

The force was a strange and mysterious thing, but never has it been this strange. Usually, if the force rippled around him strangely, after much thought he could usually decipher what it was trying to tell him or warm him about. But this was unreadable, this was strange, it made no sense.

When Luke had burned himself, he had never felt so much adrenaline rush through him. He felt Luke burn himself, as if they were creating a bond. He felt a raging urge to make sure Luke was okay, this was strange. Why was this happening? Why this boy? It made him want to distance himself from the child so he no longer felt the strange connection, but that wasn’t an option.

He had gotten the boy to stay quiet while he continued his modifications, one of the hardest tasks he had accomplished. Much to his surprise, children were difficult to deal with. He expected he would find the task of watching the child easy, but he was mistaken. Children never sat still. It seemed that Luke had not felt the same amount of excitement as he had previously felt after he burned himself. Luke sat quietly and watched him work on his ship.

A couple hours had passed, Vader had almost forgotten the child was there until he felt Luke’s growing hunger disturb him through the force. Vader turned to address the child, who was laying on the floor and was drifting in and out of sleep. Vader’s com began to beep rapidly, he pulled it off his utility belt and answered.

“The information collected from the band of rebels has been processed and ready to be transferred to the IBS.” An officer from the Detention Center said, Vader sighed, this was a bad time but this information had to be brought to the ISB and it was too valuable to let anyone but himself carry it.

“I shall arrive at the Detention Center soon.” He cut the com and walked up to the sleeping boy, “Wake up, child.” He lowered himself and nudged Luke, Luke’s eyes flew open and looked at Vader wide-eyed.

“What's goin on?” Luke asked as he rubbed his eyes and sat up. 

“I must go to the Detention Center, you must come with me.” Luke’s eyes seemed to light up.

“Oh wow!” Luke stood up from the floor, “We are going somewhere!? Is it cool!?” 

“It is the Detention Center, it is not a place most want to go,” Vader informed, Luke furrowed his brows.

“Why?” 

“Because it is a place full of criminals and terrorists of the Empire,” Vader said, “Now follow me.” He turned and walked towards a speeder. Luke happily followed behind him, seemingly undisturbed at the thought of criminals and terrorists. Perhaps the child was used to criminals, the underground of Coruscant was full of vile. They boarded the speeder, Vader flew out of the hangar and towards the Detention Center, he did not follow the laws of flying, they only held him back from his job.

Luke gripped his seat nervously, “I-Is this legal!?” Luke asked anxiously. Vader swerved quickly through traffic, going much faster then what the flying law stated. Vader chose not to answer his question and kept speeding through traffic. They quickly reached the Detention Center, he got out of the speeder. Luke hopped out of the speeder as well and followed Vader into the Detention Center. Vader received the chip he needed and kept Luke from wandering around too much, they left and were on their way to the ISB when he heard Luke whine.

“I am hungry….” Luke cried.

“You can eat when we get back to the palace.” Vader said, Luke squirmed in his seat. 

“I can’t wait that long..” He gripped his stomach, “I’ll starve to death by then!” 

“No you will not.” Vader growled, they reached the ISB. “Stay here, do not leave.” Luke nodded quickly and Vader walked into the ISB building. He turned over the chip to a lieutenant, this was quicker than he expected. He quickly exited the building and back into the speeder. Luke continued to squirm in his seat.

Vader could feel Luke’s hunger through the force, it was quite annoying. He lifted the speeder and began to fly back to the palace, “Please can we stop someplace to eat!?” 

“No, cease your begging.”

“There is a place just down there! Please!” 

“If I stop will you quit pestering me!?”

“Yes!” Luke smiled, last time he made a deal like this Luke burned his hand but he had little to no patience with this child, so if Luke would stop pestering him he would take the deal. He lowered the speeder and groaned when he saw the place Luke pointed out, Dex’s. “Yay!!!” Luke smiled and jumped out of the speeder. Vader walked out of the speeder, the surrounding people gasped at the sight of Vader. 

Luke ran in the diner, Vader followed begrudgingly. Everyone in the diner froze, Vader felt their fear rise with each passing second. Luke walked up to the counter and squinted at the menu displayed up on the wall. Vader stood behind him, the droid behind the counter rolled over and faced Luke.

“What would you like to order?” He felt Luke’s confidence deplete and embarrassment rise, his face slowly grew red and looked down to the ground.

“What is the matter? I thought you said you were hungry.” Vader asked, Luke sniffled.

“I-I-” Luke paused, “I can’t read too good.” Vader sighed and looked to the menu then to the droid.

“He will have a kids meal,” The droid processed the information.

“It will only be a moment.” The droid beeped then rolled away, Luke looked up at him.

“Will I like the food you got me?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do.”

“How?”

“Luke!” Vader said firmly, “Cease this interrogation, you will eat the food whether you like it or not. You had promised to stop pestering me if I had stopped to get food for you.” Luke looked down and nodded. The room was tense, Vader waited rather impatiently for the food to arrive. Soon enough, the food arrived. Vader grabbed it with the force.

“We are leaving, follow me Luke.” Vader quickly left the diner and Luke followed with his head hanging low. They boarded the speeder, Vader flew Luke’s food over and then lifted the speeder. Luke quietly ate his food on the way back to the palace.

“Thank you.” Luke said softly, “You were right, I do like it.” Vader ignored him, because he couldn’t focus very well. He could feel their bond grow stronger, it was alarming. He wondered if Luke felt it, their connection, it would answer why he did not seem frightened of him. Their bond was stronger then any padawan and master bond through the force, he wondered what Sidious would say about this, if he should even tell Sidious about the bond. He tried not to think about what this all could mean on the way back to the palace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you thought! Comments fuel me haha


	4. The Sun is Scheduled to Come out Tomorrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke is getting a little adventurous at the palace, Sidious makes fun of Vader (As usual) and there is some angst in this chapter hehe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh okay! Here is another update hehe, thank you to my sister Aaveena (thats her AO3 name) for editing this chapter she also named the chapter haha! This chapter is set up for the next chapter which will be considerably longer than this one

“So,” Sidious said slowly, “You took the child to a diner?” Sidious folded his hands on his lap as his eyes narrowed on Vader.

“Yes,” Vader stated, “I apologize, my master, I should not have let the child dictate my-”

“No, no, do not apologize, Lord Vader.” Sidious interrupted, “It has been all over the holo news, there is no coverage on your failed Onderon mission. It is as if it never happened.” Vader fists tightened, the fact that the idiotic paparazi dared take a picture of him at that run down diner with the ten-year-old orphan angered him beyond comprehension. This is not exactly the kind of image he wanted projected through the Empire. Something about his anger amused Sidious, he watched a smile curl on his masters face. 

“It would seem our plan on covering up the Onderon failure is working, Lord Vader.” Sidious said, looking quite pleased with himself. “I had full confidence that the plan would work, it is unfortunate it had to be made due to your negligence.” 

“I apologize, my master.”

“See to it that you do not fail another mission as badly as Onderon” Sidious growled, “You are dismissed, Lord Vader. Keep the child alive for now.”

“Yes, my master.” Vader bowed and turned to leave Sidious’s throne room. He decided to keep the fact that Luke and him were growing a bond, as it was not something that Sidious needed to know. Sidious was already well aware of the child's force potential, aware of the threat he brought to the Emperor, but the child would not be a threat after the week was over. The bond was only a minor issue, it was slightly irritating to deal with but Vader would do his best to ignore it. He exited the throne room to get back to dealing with the orphan.

* * *

Luke was curled in his bed watching the holo vid in his room, he was absolutely amazed with the amount of channels there were. At the orphanage they only had three, and the hologram would flicker due to the terrible reception. He had never felt so comfortable, his bed here was huge and soft. It was something new, something that was his, not a hand-me-down. Even the clothes he had gotten made specifically for him were new, he had something of his own. For the first time, he didn’t have to share, he felt, special, even if he knew it would only last a short time.

Lord Vader had told him to stay put while he went to speak with the Emperor. Vader had been quiet on the flight back to the palace, Luke desperately wanted to ask why, but felt he might be annoying him. Every which way he looked in Coruscant, he saw something new he had never seen before, and each new sight brought a million questions to his mind. It had been quite a struggle to get back to the palace without disturbing his dark supervisor.

The food Lord Vader had gotten to him was good;  _ all _ the food on the surface of the city was remarkably better than what they had below. Luke felt like maybe he and his fellow orphans have just been eating scraps that the citizens above did not want to eat. It made him sad, it felt like him and his fellow orphans were forgotten, like the city’s afterthought.

After being in his room for a while Luke began to feel thirsty, and while he did have a panel by his door that would deliver food and drinks, he was still confused on how to operate it. Vader had forgotten how to show him how the panel worked exactly, so he was left clueless in his bed. 

Luke rolled on his side and stared at the panel and decided it was worth the confusion to get some water. He slid out of his bed and walked towards the panel, the screen lit up and Luke’s eyes widened at the options. Who knew there was this much food?! After staring at the screen in confusion he found the drink option, he pressed it and gasped again at the wide range of options to drink. 

He scrolled through the options, each one sounding better then the next, he stuck out his tongue in concentration as he looked for just a plain glass of water. He stopped mid scroll, if he was gonna be up on the surface he wanted to experience new things as much as he could. When was the next time he would be able to drink any of these?! Luke selected dozens of drinks to try, even the gross sounding ones just because he had the chance to try them.

Once he was satisfied he entered his order then walked out into the hall and sat on the floor with his back against the wall. He would wait out here for his drinks to arrive, tomorrow Luke was definitely going to try as many different food options as he could. He craned his neck and looked expectantly down the hall, waiting for droids to come march down and deliver his order 

Luke heard loud and heavy footsteps coming the other way, his head whipped over and saw Lord Vader was coming this way. Luke smiled brightly, “Hello mr. Vader, sir!” Vader stopped in front of him and folded his arms over his chest.

“As I have stated previously, do not address me so casually.” Vader said firmly, “It is  _ Lord _ Vader,” He corrected, “I suppose the water down beneath the surface has corrupted your brain, leaving you without the capability to remember such minor details as someone's title.” 

“My brains not all messed up!” Luke protested, “My memory is just bad sometimes I guess- but I’ll try to remember... _ Lord _ Vader” Luke emphasised with a smile. 

“See that you do. Now, what are you doing out in the hall?” Vader asked, Luke looked down the hall.

“I am waiting for some drinks I ordered, they should be here soon,” He looked back at Vader smiling, “Wait ‘til you see how many I got!”

“How many drinks did you order!?” Vader asked incredulously, “Why did you feel the need to order more than one!?” 

“I just wanted to try them.” Luke shrugged. “They all sounded so good!” Luke heard Vader sigh through the vocoder, he was about to speak up when Luke and Vader heard the sound of whirring coming down the hall. Luke looked expectantly and saw a bunch of droids coming down carrying trays with loads of drinks on them. Luke jumped up from the floor and was about to run towards them when Vader grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

“This is absolutely ridiculous. What possessed you to do this?” Vader asked sternly. Luke was honestly struggling to see how this was bad, he had so many options to choose from!

“You can have a sip of some of the drinks if you want..” Luke offered, maybe if he shared Vader would be less mad. Luke learned how to share growing up in the orphanage, he wouldn’t mind sharing with Vader, even if he didn’t say thank you. He felt Vader tighten his grip on Luke’s shirt, something made Luke think sharing wouldn’t cam the guy down. 

“No, I do not want a  _ sip _ !” Vader yelled, “You have completely abused the privilege of ordering for yourself.” Luke’s eyes widened, was he seriously in a lot of trouble!?

“B-But I thought I could get anything that I want!” Luke frowned.

“Yes, but not to such an extreme!” Vader looked up to the droids who waited for Luke to begin taste testing, “You may choose just one drink to have.”

“Just one!? But I am so thirsty!” Luke whined as he looked at all the varying selections, how was he supposed to choose just one!? 

“Yes, just one! And I do not want to hear you whine about it any longer!” Luke deflated under Vaders scrutiny and nodded slowly, Vader let go of him and he walked through the many droids and examined the drinks. His eyes landed on a bright orange drink with ice cubes floating on the top. 

“That one!” Luke pointed to the drink, the droid handed it to Luke. He held it with both hands and took a sip, his face instantly twisted at the strong taste.

“You do not like it?” Vader asked, sounding somewhat amused, “Perhaps you should not have given yourself so many options. You doomed yourself to failure.”

“No! I like it! See!?” Luke tried to take a bigger sip but failed to, he spit the drink back into the cup and coughed. Vader took the drink from Luke’s hands and looked at it.

“This drink is Phattro, Luke.” Vader informed, “It is an alcoholic drink, pick another, alcohol is not something a child should consume.” Luke wiped his mouth and just chose water, it was safe and he liked it. He felt kind of sad for choosing water, the whole point of this was to try something new. Vader looked to the droids, “You are all dismissed.” The droids turned and began to walk back down the halls.

Luke chugged his water until he was satisfied, once he was finished he handed Vader the cup. Vader just stared at him, “Do I look like a maid droid to you?” Luke shook his head quickly and pulled the cup close to his chest. Without responding, Vader walked into Luke's room, which was not the cleanest.

While only being here for one night, he had seemed to mess up the room considerably. Luke felt slightly embarrassed as Vader looked over his room, “Do orphans lack the knowledge of keeping a clean room?” Vader asked as he turned to face Luke. 

“No! We actually clean everyday!!” Luke informed, wanting to prove him wrong.

“Ah- well forgive me for assuming otherwise.” Vader said sarcastically, “Though, your room supplies little evidence for such a claim.” Luke deflated as Vader walked up to the control panel by his door.

“What are you doing?” Luke asked as he walked closer to him.

“I am limiting your order abilities, I do not want you to think you can do this with food as well.” Luke’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.

“But that's not fair!” Luke protested, “What if- What if I need more than one dinner or something!?”

“Well then you shall go to bed hungry,” Vader said as he finished messing with the panel, “Now, I must go to my conference room to continue some work, follow me.”

“Ohh! What are you working on!?” Luke smiled, wondering what kind of work Lord Vader does.

“Nothing that would interest you,” 

“Can I help?”

“No.” Vader said firmly. They walked out of Luke's room and just as Vader was about to lead the way down the hall Vader's com link went off. Vader clipped the com from his belt and held it up. 

“What is it Lieutenant?” Vader asked.

“The Emperor has requested your presence again with the orphan.” Luke perked at the mention of him, Vader was silent for a moment. 

“Inform the Emperor I shall be there in a moment.”

“Yes, my Lord.” The com connection was cut, Vader looked down at Luke.

“We must go speak with the Emperor, follow me.” Vader led the way, Luke scampered behind him. Luke almost tripped under himself multiple times as he attempted to keep up with Vaders long strides.

“Hey, you just spoke with the Emperor, why’d you think he wants to talk with you again?” Luke asked. Either Vader didn’t hear him or he was ignoring him, Luke assumed the latter. Luke couldn’t help it, he was so curious and the only person he had been talking to is Vader, without him here, he’d be completely alone. 

Luke looked out the large windows that lined the corridor, the sky was not the once brilliant light blue, it was grey and there seemed to be a mist all over the city. “Woah! What's goin on with the sky!?” Luke asked as he felt an urge to run up to the window.

“Those are clouds, skies like this indicate that it shall rain any moment.” Luke kept his eyes on the windows, wondering what rain even was. He found that the most interesting thing on the surface was whether, underground, the air was dry and cold. 

“Will the…” He struggled to remember the word. “The  _ sun _ be back soon?”

Vader did not even look at Luke as he spoke. “Yes, the sun is scheduled to come out tomorrow.”

__ They reached the large doors of the throne room and yet again Luke marveled at the beautiful sight. 

The Emperor sat on his throne, they reached the dias. Vader kneeled besides him, even when kneeling, Vader still seemed to tower over Luke. The action of Vader bowing instantly reminded Luke to bow, he quickly bowed towards the Emperor. 

“Rise, my friend, no need to be so formal.” The Emperor smiled, Vader stood tall next to Luke. “I have summoned you and Lando because I was recently informed of a show at the Opera, about the founding of the Empire. I believe the public would enjoy seeing you two join me to the showing.” 

The Emperor kept getting Luke’s name wrong! Luke felt an urge to correct him, but felt something imply that he shouldn't. Still, despite the slight agitation of the Emperor misnaming him constantly, Luke was excited - Going to an show! That was something fancy people did! 

“Oh that sounds like fun!” Luke jumped, excited to go somewhere other than the Detention Center and ISB. 

“Silence, child.” The Emperor snapped, his eyes landed on Vader again, “The Opera showing will be tomorrow evening, I expect you and the orphan to be there at 1900 hours.”

“Yes, my master.” Vader said obediently.

“That is all for now, you are dismissed once again,” The Emperor waved his wrist, Vader turned on his heels to leave the throne room. Luke scampered behind him excitedly, they exited into the grand hall and Luke was smiling ear to ear.

“Wow! An Opera!? What's an Opera!?” Luke asked.

“It is perhaps one of the most boring forms of entertainment in the Galaxy,” Vader said sternly, this information bummed Luke out considerably. “Essentially, dramatic singing.” 

“Well, I like singing..” Luke said softly, Luke looked to the ground but perked up at the soft tapping sound on the glass windows. Luke looked up to see...water falling from the sky?! Luke’s mouth dropped open and ran towards the closest pairs of doors that led to a balcony. He opened the doors and stuck out his hand and felt cold rain drops fall onto his hands. 

He pulled his hand in towards his eyes and gasped, “Woooaahhh…” Luke whispered, he turned his head to see Vader standing over him. Luke held his hands up that were wet from the raindrops, “Look! Water!!!”

“Is that supposed to impress me!?” Vader asked, “What made you think you could stop following me and run around!?”

“Oh sorry- but look! Its rain!” Luke pointed towards the sky and walked up to the balcony railing, Vader walked up behind him.

“I no longer wish to waste any of my time out here, we must-”

_ CRACK! _

A bright jagged light pierced the city with a loud boom that rattled Luke’s chest, Luke’s eyes widened and he yelped in fear. Pure adrenaline and terror ran through him and ran behind Vader clutching his cape to hide from the sound, but soon regretted this choice. He felt Vader grab Luke and ripped him off his cape, it was silent between them, Luke shivered slightly from the cold rain. 

“Never do something like that ever  _ again _ ,” Vader said slowly, “It may be the last thing you ever do.” Luke nodded quickly, Vader turned quickly to leave and Luke walked behind him but from a distance. Vader stopped in front of Luke’s bedroom and opened the door, Luke looked at him confused. 

“I thought we were going to your conference room?” Luke asked softly.

“ _ I  _ am going to my conference room, you are staying here, your presence is the last thing I want right now.” Luke stiffened and felt his eyes begin to tear up, he nodded slowly.

“I am so-”

“I do not want to hear it, go in that room and stay there for the rest of the evening. Do not leave,  _ or else. _ ” Vader said as he pointed at Luke, he sniffled softly and kept his eyes to the floor. 

“Okay, Lord Vader..” Luke whispered and walked slowly in the room. The door closed, his room was dark and the rain had picked up. It whipped against his windows, then another jagged light hit the city with a loud boom following it. Luke jumped in shock and hid under his bed covers. He had no idea what those loud sounds were, he was so scared. He wasn’t too sure why Lord Vader was so upset about Luke jumping behind him. He felt...safe around him, which was strange. Vader was rude to him and strict, and didn’t seem to like Luke very much. Something in Luke made him feel safe around him though.

He hid under his covers, feeling more alone then he had at the orphanage. He shook slightly under the covers as the loud thunderous booms exploded through the city.

* * *

Vader was storming down the halls towards his conference room, he was fuming. How dare that child touch him!? Be so casual with him!? Why did the child not fear him!? He was pure death and destruction, there was not one thing about his suit or mask that a child  _ should _ feel safe around. He was not something someone should hide behind for protection, usually it is the other way around, but not for this child. 

The child must feel their bond on some level, allowing the boy to feel safe around him. For a decade, he had been alone, and that was how he liked it. He enjoyed feeling the fear among those he passed in the halls or in meetings, it reaffirmed the power he had over them. This boy seemed to be the only thing that didn’t seem to fear his presence. Their bond was beyond a small irritation at this point.

In truth, he wasn’t mad that Luke touched him, hid behind him, felt safe around him. He was furious because he  _ wanted _ to protect Luke, mind you, not a lot. But there was something definitely there in their bond and the urge to protect grew subtly. If Luke hadn’t jumped behind him for protection he would have never noticed it. He had to get away from Luke, he couldn’t stand the bond.

Something like this, almost like an attachment, was not good for a Sith to have. Something he did not want to have, but it was there. Unfortunately, he had to spend the next couple days with the child, but soon it would be all over. Once the child was done with, he would never have to deal with him again…

Something about that thought unsettled him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you liked it! Vader is a bad baby sitter and Luke is in his feels :( 
> 
> Luke is still pretty hype about the Opera showing yaay!
> 
> Thank you so so much for reading! Please let me know what you thought!


	5. Lets go to the Opera'ies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke, Vader and Palpatine have a blast at the Opera!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just picture Luke in Krenniks outfit haha
> 
> Sorry for not uploading sooner, I just started school and my job again! Hopefully I get back into the rhythm of things!

Luke had managed to fall asleep last night, he had tossed and turned through the rainstorm. It took some time for him to get used to the almost rhythmic tapping of the rain hitting against his window. At some point it became peaceful, white noise to distract him from the sadness that seemed to be consuming him, he felt lonely. He still was confused why Vader was upset with him, he didn’t mean to upset him so much.

His mood elevated considerably this morning when he woke up to breakfast being brought to him by some droids. It was delicious, Luke was continuously amazed by the food up on the surface, the fruit was so fresh and was nothing like the mushy stuff vendors sold on their half-broken down carts that lined the street in front of the orphanage. 

Just as Luke was finishing his breakfast, the door to his room hissed open. Luke’s eyes quickly darted over to see who was coming in and saw the large dark figure of Lord Vader standing in the door frame. Luke looked at him with wide eyes as he sat up in his bed with his breakfast tray on his lap, Vader walked up to him and folded his arms over his chest. 

“Finish quickly, you have an appointment with a tailor coming up soon,” Vader informed, Luke took a sip of his juice and looked at Vader confused.

“Tailor?” Luke asked, tilting his head, “What's that?” Vader sighed.

“It is a person or droid who makes clothing specifically for you,” Luke perked up at the idea of that, not hand-me-downs or buying it at a store, it was made just for  _ him _ . “You must hurry, child, I shall wait out in the hall.” Luke nodded and watched as Lord Vader walked out of his room, he quickly finished the rest of his breakfast and slid the tray off his lap and onto the bed. He stretched his arms then jumped out of bed, he picked up some of the clothing Lekauf had bought for him and changed into it. 

He looked at himself in the mirror and smiled brightly, he pulled at the thread of his necklace looked at his mother's japor snippet, his smile relaxing into a more mournful one. “We are going to the opera mom.” 

He gently tucked the necklace under his shirt and looked back at his fancy outfit. He was used to wearing glorified rags that were practically held together by gum and staples. The thought of going back to all of that, it almost scared him. There was so much here that he already liked, most of all the sun, it always brightened up the day, literally. Flickering light bulbs could never replace it. Just knowing it came everyday elevated his mood. 

He walked out of his room and saw Vader pacing, he stopped when Luke stepped out, “Are you ready now? We have no time to waste” Vader said, sounding a little impatient.

“Mhm..” Luke said as he looked up to Lord Vader, he wanted to ask if he was still upset about the previous night. He felt a little hesitant to bring it up, Vader didn’t say anything, he turned and walked down the hall quickly. Luke followed behind him, looking at Vader nervously. Vader seemed to be walking with a swift purpose and seemed more cold then he had before. Luke was busy wrestling with the idea of asking Vader if he was still mad when he heard Vader speak up. “Luke-” Luke blinked quickly and realized he had been trailing slowly behind Vader, he was a good distance for the dark figure up ahead. “You must pick up your pace, I do not have the time nor the luxury to wait for you to catch up when it's convenient for you.”

  
  


Luke nodded quickly and picked up his pace until he reached Vader, “Sorry..” He muttered, Vader looked down at him, studying him.

“What is bothering you?” Vader asked, Luke looked up at him nervously and slightly confused, Vader had never asked about how he was feeling before. “Do or do not tell me, I do not care, but your mood is distracting me. If you do not plan on telling me, I must instruct you to cease with your petulant whining.” Luke felt a spark of anger in him, he wasn’t whining at all! But his anger fizzled as quickly as it came, there was no way he could stand up for himself to Lord Vader.

“W-Well I-” Luke sputtered.

“Quickly,” Vader hissed.

“Uhm- I just wanted to know if you were still mad at me…” Luke said softly, “About last night when I hid behind-”

“If you think I have nothing better to do then be upset over an interaction with you, then you are gravely mistaken.” Vader said matter of factly, “Now follow me, I do not wish to waste any more time than we already have.” Vader turned on his heels and carried on down the hall, Luke wasn’t sure what to take from that interaction, but at least he wasn’t upset with him. 

Luke followed Vader down the halls of the palace, still taking in the wonderful sights the palace had to offer. Every day he seemed to notice small details and new things around the palace, Luke moved from behind Vader to by his side and looked up to him. 

“How big is the palace?” Luke asked with a small smile, keeping a slight jog to keep up with Vaders fast pace. “I want to see as much as possible, maybe even the whole thing!” Vader looked down at Luke for a moment then back to looking straight ahead.

“You could not possibly see the entirety of the palace within the span of the week,” Vader informed, “Even if you dedicated yourself to it.” Luke’s eyes widened in fascination. 

“A whole week!?” Luke asked, “And you’d still not be able to see it all!?” Vader didn’t respond, Luke felt like he had barely seen any of the palace. All he had seen were the halls, his room, the throne room, and a hangar. He had barely scratched the surface on his gigantic building.

Soon enough, Vader stopped in front of a large pair of doors and punched the panel on the wall. The doors swooshed open revealing a rather large room with cloth hanging down on either side of the room from racks. In the center was a droid measuring something on a long steel table. Luke walked in excitedly as he looked around at all the different types of fabrics. Vader walked towards the droid and pointed to Luke.

“This child needs a tailored outfit for this evening,” The droid looked at Luke, its eyes lighting up, he felt like he was being analyzed and quickly felt self-conscious. The droid looked back at Vader.

“It is not possible to make an outfit in such a short time frame,” The droid spat out a matter of factly, Luke saw Vaders fists tighten then he pointed at the droid.

“I do not care how  _ impossible _ it is, you shall make it in the time frame I presented you with!” Vader demanded, the droid simply stared at Vader.

“It is not possible, but I will see what I can do.” The droid turned to Luke, “Stand here small human.” The droid was pointing to a pedestal on the floor. Luke slowly made his way over and the droid took his measurements. 

“Oooh, this is fancy.” Luke smiled, thinking this is what being royal must feel like. How many people did he know have tailored outfits? None! 

“Nothing about taking measurements is fancy, human.” The droid beeped back, the disparaging comment the droid said made Luke’s confidence sink into his stomach. “You are quite small, so it should not take as much time as previously anticipated.” Luke furrowed his brows.

“I am not  _ that  _ small!” Luke protested, the droid finished its measurements and looked to Luke.

“Yes you are, you are of the average size of a seven-year-old.” Luke looked down in embarrassment as the droid turned to Vader. “I will finish this as quickly as I can.”

“C-Can I choose the fabric?” Luke asked.

“No,” Vader said quickly, “We do not have time to customize to your liking, I have work to finish before we leave for the opera.” Luke eyed the fabric longingly before he nodded, agreeing to follow Vader. Vader motioned for Luke to follow him, Luke did so as he took a final glance at the droid who was rolling over towards the white fabric and smiled, that's the color he wanted. 

* * *

Things seemed to have picked up quite considerably, the closer the Opera came the more hectic people seemed to have become. Preparing for departure, security, ect, Luke was fascinated by it all. So fast-paced and busy, people walked quickly passed his bedroom door, he stood in the door frame watching with a smile. 

Lord Vader had sent him back to his room due to his  _ “Incredibly unique way of being annoying.”  _ No matter what Luke did, he seemed to annoy Lord Vader, even if he breathed too loudly! Earlier, he sat in the corner of Vaders large conference room, he was working on several datapads when Luke had the brilliant idea of helping him so he could finish his work faster.

He had walked over to where Vader was working and reached for a datapad set aside in a pile that Vader had accumulated. Just as Luke was about to reach the datapad, Vader grabbed his wrist tightly and seemingly glared at him. At that moment, Luke felt incredibly uncomfortable and realized he made a huge mistake. 

After that long awkward, tense moment of silence, Vader threatened for Luke to never do that again or else. Luke had agreed to those terms and watched Vader from his side, looking into his datapad in great interest for what he was doing. Vader didn’t seem to be appreciative of Luke’s intrigue and Luke could tell he was losing patience. Luke was about to speak and apologize for bothering him so much when Vader had ordered two stormtroopers to escort him to his room, and that’s where he found himself at that moment. 

He was waiting for his fancy outfit to arrive when he saw Lord Vader round the corner holding something in his hands, it was his outfit! It was white and stuck out against Vader’s black armor, Luke jumped in the doorway as he got closer. Vader stood in front of him and floated it over to Luke.

“Get changed, we must leave for the opera soon.” Luke held the outfit in his hands, already able to tell by the fabric it was incredibly high quality. It felt sturdy like it could last a lifetime, unlike his hand-me-downs that were passed down for generations to new kids at the orphanage. Luke didn’t need to be told twice, he ran into his room and shut his door then quickly changed and was absolutely elated. 

It was clean, new,  _ his. _ He looked at his outfit from different angles, it was white with a collar and a long white cape on the back! A cape!!

Luke smiled confidently as he walked out of his bedroom and began waving around his cape, “Look at this, kinda like yours, huh?”

“If you mean by it being a cape, then yes. But objectively, no, it is nothing like my cape.” Vader stated, “Cease your constant attempt to appeal to my better nature, I do not have one.” Luke wanted to tell Vader everyone had a better nature but felt maybe he wouldn’t appreciate that very much. Luke definitely believed everyone had small amounts of good in them, they innately know what’s right and what’s wrong. Even Lord Vader.

* * *

It was time to go to the opera and the more time he spent with this child the more taxing their bond really became. It was perhaps as strong as the bond that developed between Sidious and him now, or maybe even stronger. The bond even felt familiar, like he felt it so long ago. 

They were walking towards the hangar, taking a shuttle, the Emperor was currently en route towards the opera house, they would board an Imperial Luxury shuttle. Luke seemed as happy as ever just being in the presence of Vader, he was constantly trying to convince the child there was no attachment between them and there was never going to be one. He was always trying to distance himself, even if his duty was to watch the child. Luke burned brightly through their bond, he was like a supernova in the force.

It disrupted his meditations considerably, a few times he was not fully able to grab at the dark side. It practically fizzled in his grip. It was in those times when he had to forcefully grab at the dark side and force it to envelop him. 

He stewed in his predicament angrily as they reached the hangar, he heard the child gasp at the sight of the luxury shuttle. “Oh wow!” Luke picked up his pace and ran towards the shuttle, Vader stopped him mid-run with the force, Luke frozen in his spot. “Ahh what’s happening?! I can’t move!”

“Are you aware of the dange-” Vader stopped himself, he wasn’t worried for the well-being of this child! “You are not to run through hangar bays, this is a place of work not childish games.” He released his grip on Luke, the boy looked down to the floor. 

“I am sorry, I just really like ships, is all..” Luke muttered, “I never really got to see them underground.” 

“I do not care nor do I sympathize with your explanation as to why you think running through a hangar is acceptable.” Vader stated, “Board the shuttle, we have already wasted enough time.” Luke had seemed to have forgotten that he was just being lectured because the pure joy of boarding a ship radiated through Luke’s end of the bond. 

Luke excitedly boarded the shuttle, Vader followed and headed towards the cockpit. “Oh-oh, can I join you in the cockpit?!?” Luke asked, Vader turned quickly and stared at the child, the absolute audacity of this boy was unmatched. “Please oh please oh please!!???” 

“No!” Vader yelled, losing his patience, “You may not join me, you shall stay back here in the passengers area, do not at any point come to the cockpit to bother me!” Luke nodded and plopped himself on one of the seats, he seemed considerably less cheerful, but he knew the child gained his spark quickly. 

Vader entered the cockpit and began to fly the shuttle towards the opera house, knowing full well this was going to be not entertaining in the slightest. He never went to the opera house for the opera anyhow, he knew Luke, despite his excitement, would find it incredibly boring. Luke was not one to keep his emotions to himself, he would whine to Vader about the show the entire time. Vader would agree with him, though showing Luke that they may have something in common may give Luke an incentive to continue to annoy him. 

It did not take much time till he heard the cockpit doors open, anger swirled in his chest as he clutched the yoke. “What did I say about-”

“Is there a fresher on this ship thingy?” Luke asked, blissfully unaware of Vader’s plummeting mood. 

“Luke,” Vader said dangerously slow, “Go back there, now.”

“But-”

“Now!” Vader yelled, Luke yelped softly before leaving quickly, he was practically at the edge. Luke was constantly testing his patience and at this point, Vader was surprised by how he has been able to hold himself back. 

Eventually, they arrived at the opera house, Luke had made a dash towards the refresher when they walked in. Vader begrudgingly waited for him, when Luke walked out he was beaming. He looked around the grand opera house in amazement, it was quite extravagant.

Unlike usual, it was vacant of huge crowds. They had let a majority of the audience come in so the Emperor was not disturbed by huge crowds and the show would begin right when he entered the theater. 

“Come now, we must go to the Emperors private box seats,” Luke looked up at him in interest. 

“Are those good seats?” Luke asked as he tilted his head, Vader sighed, figuring the answer was quite obvious. 

“Yes, they are the best seats in the theater.”

“Woah!!!” Luke smiled brightly, “Is it like the front row or something?!” 

“No, he would then have to sit with just anyone who bought front row seats, his box seats are private.” Luke nodded in understanding, but his smile was still plain on his face. He seemed so excited for something that in reality was incredibly mundane.

“Let’s go!” Luke jumped, Vader walked ahead of him and led the way down the long halls. He could feel Luke’s excitement radiate off of him. 

They reached the box seats, which were guarded by red Imperial Guardsmen. Luke walked into the box seats and up to the railing on the balcony railing and marveled in the sight. The huge crowd sat in their chairs and in the center there were floating orbs that floated gently. 

Instantly, old memories seemed to float their way to the center of his mind. Learning how to save one from death, his wife, his child. He instantly pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind. These memories were not useful to dwell on, you can’t change the past. But he was never very successful at squashing these memories, was he.

Something in him made him want to urge Luke to step back from the railing, but again he had to remind himself he did not care for this child’s wellbeing. If Luke fell, then he fell, that should be no concern for him. If Luke were to fall from that height he would most definitely hurt himself, allowing him to learn his lesson and…

“Luke, stand back and sit in one of the chairs,” Vader demanded, Luke nodded and complied as he found a chair he thought was most comfortable. It wasn’t much longer after that when the Emperor had arrived, he was guarded by an extra pair of imperial guards. 

“Lord Vader, I am glad to see you have arrived early.” Sidious said as he walked down his private box seat, “And young Liam, how are you enjoying my box seats?” Sidious’s eyes narrowed on the boy. Luke seemed suddenly shy and sunk into his seat.

“I-I like them, your highness..” Luke muttered, Sidious seemed pleased and sat in his chair marked for him, the guards flanked either side of him. Vader stood towards the back of the box, looking down between Luke and the Emperor. The child was scared of him as he should, unfortunately, he was not terrified of Vader. If he was, maybe he would listen to him. 

The lights dimmed and an announcer's voice echoed through the theater, “The Emperor has arrived!” The entirety of the opera house clapped and cheered for the presence of the Emperor. Vader watched as Luke began to clap softly, Vader could feel Lukes's confusion and wanted to ask a question, but kept it to himself. 

The sound of intricate instruments began to tune, swallowing the crowds' ongoing applause of the Emperor's presence. The first half of the Opera proceeded as normal, and as he expected, it was dreadfully boring. Vader found the singing unimpressive and found opera a poor choice to convey one's story. While the Emperor seemed to be enjoying it, he saw Luke's head slack to one side and he sunk into his seat slowly. Near the end of the first half of the opera, he felt Luke was practically asleep through their bond. He knew he would fall asleep by intermission. 

After intermission, the lights dimmed again and the once babbling crowd was hushed by the instruments beginning to play when a shout from a box seat near the Emperors was heard, Vader felt a sense of danger rise quickly, “Down with the Empire!” A man from a nearby box seat yelled, Vader felt the danger spike and moved instinctually down the box seat and reached his hand out with the force. He saw the man had thrown something, a small black rectangular-shaped bomb was thrown towards the Emperor's seat. Vader created a force field around the bomb, allowing a visible but contained explosion. 

The crowd screamed in terror, all leaving their seats, creating a stream of citizens running towards the exits. Vader kept his eyes trained on the terrorist who wore a long black jacket and a hat in the box seat fiddling with another bomb as he was detained by two Imperial Guards, he tried to create a struggle but was easily subdued by the help of Vader's force choking. 

“Master, I believe the threat is under-” Vader said as he turned to face the Emperor, who he had assumed he stood in front of for protection but found he was staring into the terrified eyes of the little orphan. When he walked down the box seats he had followed his instincts, which seemed to have led him in front of the boy. 

It didn’t take long for the crowd quickly make their way out of the Opera, Vader turned to look at the Emperor. The air was tense, Sidious was practically glaring at him, his old hands gripped the armrest of his chair.

“My master, I-”

“Let's leave, seeing as the Opera has been forcefully postponed,” Sidious hissed, “Luckily, I will be alive to see it, thanks to my guards.” Sidious stood and slowly hobbled his way out of the box seats with the guards following him. It was there when Vader knew his mistake was unimaginably huge, he had moved to protect some random child over his master, something was wrong. Vader stared at the exit that Sidious took when he felt a gentle tug on his cape, Vader turned to Luke.

“You protected me,” Luke said softly, “Thank you.” Luke smiled, Vader was silent for a few minutes.

“It was a mistake.”

Luke’s smile disappeared and looked solemn, his eyes looked like they were becoming tearful.

“Come, we must leave.” Vader turned to leave the box seats and Luke slowly followed. Something in Vader was subconsciously brewing, while he would outwardly say moving to protect Luke was a mistake, it wasn’t. Instincts do not lie, something in him cared more for Luke's well being then the Emperor's wellbeing. The whole day he has been convincing himself he didn’t care, but the truth was -

He did.

* * *

Luke practically dragged his feet behind him, Vader could feel through their bond he was incredibly tired. They were walking through the halls towards Luke's room, Vader was grateful Luke kept his questions to himself. No doubt he wanted to ask why Vader protected him, what had happened, why they left, ect. These were not things he wanted to think or consider at the moment. 

He was aware tomorrow he would have to speak with the Emperor about what had happened, he would ask why Vader chose to protect Luke over him. He would have to explain the bond growing between Luke himself, well aware Sidious might find it’s a good idea to...get rid of Luke earlier than anticipated. 

He pushed that thought to the back of his head as they walked into Luke's room, Luke didn’t bother to get into pajamas, he just climbed into his bed and layed down as he faced Vader. “So,” Luke yawned, “What happened, exactly?” Luke practically whispered in his tiny voice. 

“Save your questions for tomorrow, child.” Vader said as he stepped closer to Luke, Luke smiled.

“You’ll let me ask questions!?” 

“Perhaps,” Vader said, “I may change my mind.” Luke nodded, still smiling. Vader, for the first time, traveled through their bond and slowly put Luke to sleep in the force. He examined the sleeping child, unaware of the conspiring behind his back. Without thinking his hand reached out and pulled the sheet up on Luke then quickly pulled back. He was frozen and examined his hand as if it moved and had done that on its own.

What was happening to him!?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you sososoososososoosos much for reading!!! Yay! 
> 
> Vader protests too much, but we all know he cares for Luke, he will find out soon enough why
> 
> Luke is pretty confused and somewhat sad, feeling slightly alone, but Vader and him bonded in the end
> 
> Again, thank you for reading! Please let me know what you thought! Comments give me life and I love your feedback!


	6. I'm a Sith Lord, I Do not Now and Never Will Love Children

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sidious bullies Vader and Luke cheers him up, they bond

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here ya go! hope you enjoy this bonding chapter

The angry glare of Sidious burned through his black armor, he felt powerful waves of anger from his master crash into him. He had called him in early that morning and kept him kneeling for what felt like hours but in reality, it was only 5 minutes. Kneeling like this put stress on his joints, his armor dug into him, making him suffer through pure agony. It was a struggle to keep himself in position, he pulled from the dark side of the force to keep him still.

“Lord Vader,” Sidious hissed lowly, “Care to explain your grave mistake at the opera last night?” Sidious narrowed his eyes on Vader.

“Master, I have recently noticed an unwanted bond growing between me and the orphan,” Vader said, “I did not realize what-”

“A bond?” Sidious growled, “You and the boy have a bond? Through the force?” Sidious’s voice was poisonous and almost accusing, like Vader had wanted this bond and hid it for this reason. Vader was silent, his shields locked tightly.

  
“Yes, we have a bond.”

“How strong is it?” Sidious inquired, Vader took a moment to respond.

“Considerably.”

“And this bond has formed from...nothing?” Sidious raised his brow and leaned forward somewhat in his seat.

“Yes, it appears so, I am not certain as to why this bond has formed.” Vader admitted, “I seek your guidance, a way to break the bond.” Sidious kept his eyes trained on him then leaned back in his throne, his demeanor relaxed.

“If we had known about it sooner we may have been able to do something about it,” Sidious paused, “Seeing as the boys' days are numbered, pay no mind to it. It shall all be over soon.” 

Vader  _ had _ been trying to  _ pay no mind to it _ , these past four days! It was a constant buzz at the back of his skull, the force wanted him to pursue the bond and tug at the almost golden ribbon that tied them together. The force wouldn’t rest until he found out why they were connected, but Sidious was right, once the child was..no more, then the bond would be broken and he wouldn’t have it constantly bother him.

…

“I shall not waste any more time dwelling in it, my master.” Vader waited for his master's response, there was a tense silence between them. He assumed their conversation was drawing too close but knew he was wrong in that assumption when Sidious stood from his throne and slowly moved towards Vader.

“Now, onto a mission I have for you, another rogue publicist has been spreading their 'article' through the city, have you heard what they said?” Sidious asked slowly, his voice just as poisonous as ever.

“I have not, my master.”

“They are saying we are responsible for child endangerment, that by putting the child in that situation, we are to be damned,” Sidious growled, his eyes looking furious. “I had brought that child to my palace to rectify my reputation, not ruin it! You are to fix this!” 

“I shall take care of the publicist that have spread these lies, my master,” Vader responded.

“No, not just that, do something with him, or for him, make it big, make it look as if we care for his happiness.” Vader was utterly dumbfounded, he wanted Vader to make some huge gesture to the boy? How big? It was a ridiculous request, but it was the Emperor's request, so he must do it. 

“I shall, my master,” Vader said through gritted teeth, at this point, his joints felt as if they were on fire, a sharp pain went up and down his back, the suit weighed heavily on him. He knew this pain was part of the punishment from his failure at the opera, but surely it wouldn’t last forever.

_ ZAP _

A sharp electric blast of Sidious’s force lightning hit him right on what felt like his chest plate, he staggered, losing some of his balance and hunched over gripping one of the steps of the dias. It did not come in waves, there was not one-millisecond break on the onslaught of Vaders badly injured body. He had to sit there and take the punishment, the punishment he deserved. 

The lightning crackled through his veins and he thought for a moment his vision was becoming blurry. He knew Sidious wouldn’t damage him enough to kill him, only to worsen the condition of his suit and long enough to make him realize how badly he had failed. He didn’t have the strength to lift his head to look up at his master, but he was sure he was grinning wildly. 

Sidious stopped the brutal punishment, Vader stayed still, half expecting a second wave and was to hurt to move. He brought his head up to look at his master, his eyes looked down on Vader, they were horribly angry yet pleased with himself. Sidious moved forward and rested his hand on Vader's helmet. 

“I hope you have learned your place and do not naively assign yourself to that child when I have you kill  _ it _ ,” Sidious spat, Vader stayed silent, pulling at the force to keep him from collapsing on the floor. “You are dismissed, Lord Vader.” 

He mustered all the strength he had to lift himself up on his two feet, his armor whining with the movement. He could tell instantly his right leg was severely damaged from the lightning, he turned and began to leave.

He needed to get into his meditation chamber quickly and fix his leg and see about any medical work that must be done. He grabbed at the force, it pulsated around him and held him together so as to not seem weak in front of others. He needed to get to his palace, which was not far from the Imperial Palace, but that was the closest hyperbaric chamber and needed to get there urgently. Unfortunately, now he had to consider Luke, it was his job to look after him after all.

He floated a comlink in front of him and commed one of his PA’s. “How may I be in service, Lord Vader.”

“Send one of the Lieutenants to transfer Luke to my palace immediately, tell them to keep him in the hangar.”

“Yes, my Lord.” The PA replied, the com was cut, easy enough. Luke should have plenty to occupy himself with, his hangar in his palace had several ships he was working on, which the boy seemed to take an interest in.

His next couple of hours have seemed to be planned, fix his leg and apply medical attention where needed while Luke stays busy in the hangar. All seemed fine, all  _ would _ have been fine if he didn’t have what Sidious said rattle through his brain like a siren.

Sidious wanted him to kill Luke.

* * *

Luke stood in front of his bedroom door tapping his foot impatiently, his throw blanket over his shoulders and fell down his back like a cape. Where was Lord Vader!?

Lord Vader PROMISED Luke that he could ask questions about last night, he even struggled to sleep last night as new questions popped in his head and he just  _ had _ to ask them or he felt like his brain may explode. He had gotten up early, he was sure that was an aspect Lord Vader would respect, and had already ordered his breakfast. He watched the holo to waste some time but even then he kept the corner of his eye on the door to see it open. 

Sadly, he would be disappointed, Lord Vader never came and at this time he was usually with him. Maybe Lord Vader was busy, or maybe-

_ Wait _

Was Lord Vader just avoiding him to not have to answer any of his questions!? He furrowed his brows angrily, he bet Vader thought he got away with avoiding Luke, that Luke wouldn’t notice. He wasn’t that dumb! He could see right through him! He never liked answering his questions anyways! He had to find him! He had to ask, he had to...ask…

Why he said saving him was a mistake, that was something that bugged him considerably. How can you accidentally save someone? It sure didn’t look like a mistake from Lukes's perspective. When all the commotion went down, Luke watched as Vader rushed down the box seats and stood directly in front of him as a barrier. At the moment, Luke was amazed, Lord Vader had come to protect him. For the first time in his life, someone acted as if they cared for his well being. It filled Luke’s heart, but it was shattered when he said it was a mistake. He just wanted to know what he meant by that. 

He was about to get up and sit on his bed and wait some more when the door swooshed open, he opened his eyes in excitement, thinking it was Lord Vader, but it was a man in a sleek Imperial outfit. He looked up to him curiously and took a step back.

“Are you Luke?” The man asked, his brows furrowed, Luke nodded quickly sensing the man's urgency. “Oh, thank the force, come on we have to leave now.” The man turned to open Luke’s door. Luke took another step back.

“Who are you?” Luke asked.

“I’m Lieutenant Piett,” The man said, “We should leave now, we don’t want to keep Lord Vader waiting.” Piett’s expression seemed to show that the very idea terrified him. Luke nodded and followed Piett down the hall. He was speed walking, practically at the brink of running. He was doing his best to keep up with Piett, his blanket flying behind him.

“So, where are we going?” Luke asked.

“Lord Vader's palace,” Piett said quickly as he began rapidly typing in his datapad, “It's not too far from-”

“Palace!?!?” Luke asked excitedly as they walked into the hangar, “Lord Vader has a palace!?” He saw Piett form a half-smile as they boarded a speeder.

“Yes he does, it's not far from here either.” Piett lifted the speeder and flew somewhat quickly through traffic, Luke began to wonder if anyone on this planet followed traffic laws. He saw they were heading towards a large black skyscraper, Luke tried to look for a huge palace close to the Imperial place but didn’t see anything other than dozens upon dozens of skyscrapers.

“Where is the palace?” Luke asked.

“Right in front of us, of course,” Piett gestured to the large black skyscraper. Luke looked at it up and down, he didn’t know palaces could come in so many different shapes and sizes. It looked so different compared to the Imperial Palace. He looked at it in amazement, it was way taller than the other palace, and this was all for Vader. He wondered what was inside.

Piett landed the speeder in a hangar inside of Vader's palace and stepped out, it was huge, and better yet, there were multiple ships! Luke’s eyes widened at the sight as he ran towards them, he admired every inch. Some of them had panels popped open with exposed wiring or parts completely taken off which Luke had guessed was for fixing an issue. 

Luke walked down the hangar and looked at each ship that Vader had, wishing he knew some of the names. He wanted to sit in the pilot's seat so bad and he was tempted to do so but Piett was watching him from afar. He decided just for now to admire them and pretend he was behind the yoke, flying off anywhere in the galaxy, far from here.

Luke wandered back over to Piett, “Where is Lord Vader anyways? Is he gonna meet us here?” Piett thinned his lips and scrolled through his datapad. 

“I am not sure, but I think he is up in his personal level in the building.” Piett continued to work on his datapad. “He wants us to wait here, I believe.” Luke nodded in understanding, though he felt a twinge of annoyance. He had been waiting for him all morning, now he had to wait longer? How was he gonna pass the time?

He ended up sitting in front of the lift doors with his blanket covering him, he watched the lift doors intently, waiting for the doors to slide open. He was filled with determination, Piett had asked if he wanted to do anything but Luke shook his head. When Vader got here he was gonna tell him how rude it was to leave him to wait for hours!

It almost felt like he was sitting there forever, he wondered how much time had passed, his eyes were drooping and he felt himself lean over to the right. Piett had walked into one of the offices attached to the hangar once it was clear Luke wasn’t moving. Luke figured he had work to do. 

As sleep was about to take over him the lift doors hissed open, Luke jumped, feeling startled by the sudden movement. He looked up and saw Vader towering over him, staring down on his small form. Luke’s grogginess dissipated at the sight of Vader, he smiled brightly. 

“Finally!!” Luke said, but then his face quickly screwed in frustration, “You left me waiting for hours!!” 

“I do not work under your schedule,” Vader said, “Why are you wai-”

“It’s still rude!!!” Luke stood up and straightened his back trying to seem as tall as he could, “It was so boring!!!”

“I must apologize, I am finding it difficult to be concerned over your entertainment,” Vader folded his arms over his chest, “I thought you would find interest in these ships, were you sitting in front of the lift the entire time?”

“Yes! Because I wanted to tell you how rude it was!!” Luke pointed at Vader, still upset.

“Consider the message received,” Vader walked past Luke into the hangar, “Since we are in my hangar, I will finish some modifications on one of these ships, you may choose-.” 

“But- But!” Luke interrupted, “I thought we were going to do something today…” Luke said softly.

“Oh yes? And what gave you that impression?” Vader asked, Luke shrugged.

“I dunno-” Luke paused, “I just don’t want to have to watch you fix your ship from a distance again!” 

“How unfortunate for you, that is what you shall be doing.” 

“Noo! Please!” Luke begged, “That is so boring!”

“If you think I will be taking you out for fu-” Vader cut off and stared at Luke, “Well, perhaps,” He paused, “Perhaps I have time to take a ship out before modifications.” Luke’s eyes widened, begging worked!

“What!?” He smiled, “Really!? You truly mean it!?” Luke asked with a small jump.

“Yes, but-” Luke ran in the direction of the shuttle at full speed, he was going out into space! This was his biggest dream ever and it was coming true! He can almost picture his parent's faces when he tells them he has been to space! He boarded the shuttle and waited for Vader eagerly.

* * *

Vader sighed heavily as he followed the boy towards the shuttle, he had remembered what Sidious wanted him to do with the boy, showing the public he was having a good time. He would make sure to pass news cruisers so they could catch a glimpse or a photo. It was not something he wanted to do but it was an order from the Emperor, so he had no choice. He boarded the shuttle and saw Luke wait excitedly in front of the cockpit.

“So can I come up with you please!” Vader wondered if Luke knew how much he begged for things, but he guessed children were prone to such things. Luke held his blanket over his shoulders like a cape, Luke didn’t know this, but he would need that blanket. 

It was cold in space.

“Yes, but do not touch anything or else!” Vader pointed hard at the child who seemed totally oblivious to the threat. He beamed excitement through the force, it was so bright that it almost ate away at the darkness surrounding Vader. Luke nodded, understanding the rules, Vader led Luke into the cockpit. Luke gasped loudly as his eyes examined the dashboard of the ship.

Something about this reminded Vader of himself when he was younger, he pushed those thoughts away immediately. He did not enjoy thinking of such things, but the almost uncanny resemblance crashed into him at that moment. He was surprised he hadn’t noticed it before, because now that was all he could think about.

Vader ran the preflight checks, the engine hummed to life and the lights and knobs on the dashboard lit up. He sat in the pilot's seat, Luke snuggled up in his blanket, his eyes wide in excitement. He lifted the shuttle and headed towards the sky. Luke was jumping in his seat, Vader looked over to him. 

“Your ears are going to pop, it will feel uncomfortable to you,” Vader informed, Luke looked up at him curiously. 

“Pop? Why?” 

“The changing of the air pressure.”

“Pressure? Air has different pressures?” Luke kept babbling about things he didn’t know about air and how air didn’t feel “pressury” but Vader kept most of his attention on flying. He broke through the atmosphere. Luke was on the edge of his seat looking out over the stars, the pure amazement was not only in his eyes but Vader could feel it through the force.

He looked over to Luke, whose eyes seemed to be teary, some tears escaped and slipped down his cheeks.

“Are you crying, young one?” Vader asked, Luke looked up at him petrified and whipped his cheeks and shook his head quickly.

“No!” He projected “It's just… This is what I have always dreamed of since I was really little, and now it's finally happening.” Luke turned to face Vader. “This is the best day of my life, thank you!” Tears trickled down his cheeks, Vader looked into what seemed to be the most grateful eyes he had ever seen. Suddenly, he felt an urge to ruffle his hair, but knew better than to do so. 

Vader didn’t respond, he just watched out the viewport. Luke shivered slightly and pulled his blankets up and then looked to Vader.

“Space is so cold,” He said softly and then proceeded to grab a handful of the blanket and hand it over to Vader, “Here, so you don’t get cold.”

“No, I do not need it-”

“Its okay, I don’t mind sharing,” Luke smiled. Vader truly didn’t need it but grabbed an end of the blanket anyways. The tour out into space lasted longer then he had expected it to, but felt the flight helped him think clearly. Luke had fallen asleep halfway through the ride, Vader moved the half of the blanket Luke had handed him back onto Luke, making sure he was warm. This flight made Vader realize what he wanted outside of the Emperor's orders, outside of his persuasion.

He didn’t want to kill Luke, he didn’t want Luke to die at all. At this point there was no sense in denying it, he had realized how much he had wanted Luke to stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yesss Luke and Vader bonded! Alsooo this was the first time I wrote Piett so I hope I did him well! 
> 
> I am not sure if calling Luke Young One is significant in other stories but I wanted to wait for Vader to call him young one until their attachment was strong enough. I have been wanting Vader to call Luke young one this whole story lmaooo
> 
> Ps I know nothing about ships haha
> 
> Thank you sosoososo much for reading! <3 please let me know what you thought! I love your feedback!


	7. My Parents Necklace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its angst city

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the angst

He landed the ship in his hangar and looked over to Luke who was sleeping soundly. Vader felt a slight disgust for admitting to himself he did in fact care for him. At least with denial, he could pretend it was not there, no matter how hard it was to ignore. He was  _ nice _ to him, would Luke begin to feel comfortable enough around him? That's not who he was supposed to be to the galaxy, not comforting. Next thing he knew, Luke would be telling Vader his feelings. 

He placed his hand on Luke’s shoulder and saw the polarizing difference between his large hand and Lukes small frame. He shook him slightly, Luke's eyes fluttered open then straightened up in his seat.

“Oh-” He looked around the cockpit sleepily, “Did I fall asleep?” 

“Yes you did,” Luke looked down, he could feel embarrassment radiate off of the boy.

“I- I am sorry for being such a sleemo before, crying and all..” Luke readjusted the blanket on himself, “Crying is for girls and babies, well, that's what my friends at the orphanage say.” Vader felt slightly alarmed, the boy was beginning to open up to him just like he was worried about. He would have to put a stop to this. 

“Your emotional turbulence is of no concern to me,” Vader paused, “And crying _is_ a sign of weakness, I would recommend keeping such things to yourself.” Luke looked mortified from Vaders response, shock emanated from the boy. 

He could never show kindness like that again, he may not want the boy to die, but he did not want the boys affection and trust...he was sure of that...

Luke nodded and Vader could tell he was holding back tears, he was glad he was showing restraint for once. Luke sat up from his seat and stretched, Vader stood as well to leave the cockpit but stopped when he heard Luke gasp loudly. 

“M-My necklace!” Luke was gripping the collar of his shirt trying to find it, “I-Its gone!” Luke began to look through his blanket, thinking it was maybe in one of the folds of the fabric. 

“When did you last have it?” Vader asked, not really sure why, he didn’t really care.

“I never take it off!” Luke cried, he gave up searching through the blanket and ducked down under his seat and let out a loud sigh of relief. “I found it!” Vader grew rather bored and found little interest in watching any longer and walked off the ship. Just as he stepped off the exit ramp his com beeped rapidly. He unclipped it from his utility belt.

“Lord Vader,” One of his PAs said with a waver in his voice, “The Emperor has requested you and the orphans' presence.” He had not long ago just seen his master, he had only recently repaired the damage Sidious inflicted upon him. He gripped the com tightly in anger as the dark side pulsated around him.

“We shall be there as soon as possible,” Vader growled into the com, he didn’t keep the connection on long enough for the PA to respond. He turned around on his heels to look up the ship and was about to call Luke when he saw he was standing right beside him.

“What does the Emperor want?” Luke asked in a small voice. 

“Follow me, we shall soon find out,” Vader walked towards one of his speeders. Luke seemed to light up at the sight. His mood was easily fixable it seemed, the boy only needed a few things to feel joy. When he was younger he was the same in that area, ships and...her.

With a strong mental hand, he pushed those thoughts back quickly and hid them in the shadows of his mind. Once again this child brought back unwanted memories of his past and this time about…. 

They border the speeder, Luke admired every inch of the transport as he lifted the vehicle. He angrily sped through Coruscanti traffic, Luke was still not used to the way he flew. Sidious must have some grand plan for Luke, a Goodbye Ball or a Celebrate Orphans Feast. Sidious cared to carry the illusion of someone who cared about the smallest person, someone like Luke. He was sure when Luke did die, Sidious would plan some terribly extravagant funeral. He needed to let the Empire think he cared, even if he didn’t.

They arrived at the hangar, he lowered the speeder next to his TIE. Luke still gawked at his ship as he clutched his blanket. Luke looked over to Vader, “Do you think I could sit in your pilot's seat?!” Luke asked, “Just once!?” 

“You certainly have a talent for asking senseless questions,” Vader rounded the speeder to stand in front of Luke, “I have already stated how I do not want you near my ship, follow me, we do not have time for this.” Luke nodded and followed Vader out of the hangar and down the hall back towards the throne room. 

He could tell he had seriously confused the boy, he was screaming it in the force. He was probably holding back millions of questions, maybe Luke was finally learning he drove Vader crazy with his questions. But you could never tell with the boy, one second he thought he made progress by instilling fear into him but the next second he was back to feeling comfortable around Vader. They reached the throne room, he was almost impressed with how Luke could always be so in awe of things he had seen before. Luke looked around as they walked down towards the dias. Vader kneeled once again while Luke clumsily bowed.

“Rise, my friend,” Sidious grinned, his eyes trained on Luke. Vader stood, facing the Emperor. “Lionel, seeing as your days are coming to a close soon, I wanted to give you a gift on behalf of the entire Empire.” Luke’s eyes and spirit lit up.

“R-Really!” Luke asked, “What is it- er- your highness?” Luke kept a smile on his face but attempted his own version of professional in front of the Emperor.

“As an orphan with missing parents, I have decided to dedicate all of the Empire's efforts to find them for you,” Luke gasped loudly and jumped.

“R-Really!?” Luke asked excitedly, “Y-You mean it?!” Sidious’s smile grew slowly, his gaze narrowed on Luke.

“You have my word,” Sidious said slowly, Vader had to assume this was some sort of plan Sidious had not disclosed with Vader yet. Sidious was not one to change for the better and bestow the child his mercy, no, Luke was still destined to die. While Vader begrudgingly dwelled in Lukes's impending doom, He felt pure joy and happiness radiate from the boy.

“Th-Thank you,” Luke sniffled softly, “So much.” Luke quickly wiped a tear from his cheek.

“You shall be with your parents in no time at all,” Sidious said, “Now, leave me and Lord Vader for a moment. We must speak in private.” Luke nodded and looked to Vader for directions.

“You may wait in the hall,” Vader instructed, Luke smiled and skipped out of the throne room. The doors closed with a soft echo that traveled through the throne room, leaving Sidious and Vader. Sidious smiled wickedly and stood from his throne, he moved towards Vader.

“I believe I have constructed the perfect plan, Lord Vader, I would have informed you sooner, but you seemed to be _distracted_ ,” He knew he was referring to the flight he and Luke had, he tightened his fists as Sidious clapped his hands, the Imperial guards moved to open a pair of doors besides the throne and opened them, a man and a woman stepped out. They both were dressed in tattered clothing, the woman held her purse in a timid position while the man stood straight. “If the public believed we have reunited the orphan with his parents, we shall be seen as benevolent leaders, Lord Vader, perhaps miracle workers.”

Vader walked up towards the man and woman, “Who are they?” Vader asked.

“They are bounty hunters, I have hired them to kill the orphan, to make it look like an accident.” Once it was revealed what their true intention was, their demeanor relaxed showing their true selves. They were good actors, Vader had to admit. The woman pulled out a dagger with intricate designs on the handle, she began to polish it absentmindedly, Vader wondered if she planned on using that on Luke. 

It was strange, how had Sidious found bounty hunters that slightly resemble Luke in the time he and Luke went flying?

“I shall call the orphan here tomorrow afternoon, they will take him and stage a speeder crash.” Sidious walked up to Vader almost amused, “A terrible tragedy, of course." 

Vader didn’t say anything, not feeling as amused as Sidious did. The Emperor commanded the bounty hunters to go back in the room they were in.  _ It would all be over soon  _ Vader kept repeating in his head. Luke would be killed quickly and then he could forget about him and their strange bond.

“You are dismissed, Lord Vader,” Sidious smiled as he hobbled back towards his throne, “The bond you share shall soon be severed. You will no longer have to babysit after tomorrow, in fact, after the boy is gone I have a mission for you in the Outer Rim.”

“Yes, my master,” Vader bowed towards Sidious, he was glad to have an assignment immediately after Lukes departure. It would be a useful distraction, he had already openly admitted to not wanting the boy to die. If things worked out like he wanted, Luke's death will be quick and then he could go back to working and pretend he wouldn’t feel the torn bond. 

He turned and headed back to the large throne room doors, tomorrow had to go by quickly, it had to.

* * *

Luke felt like crying, his parents!! He has been wishing to find his parents his whole life and the Emperor was gonna help him find them! He wouldn’t have to go back to the orphanage at all! This was his dream come true! What were they gonna think of him!? Were they gonna like him!? He would have to be on his best behavior when they came, he wanted them to love him. 

He was getting antsy, excitement flooded his very soul. Just as he was about to peak back into the throne room to see if Vader was coming, the doors swung open. Lord Vader walked out and stood over him, Luke smiled brightly, “Can you believe it!? My parents are gonna come for me!” 

“I am aware, I was also in the throne room with you,” Vader pointed at Luke, “You must be patient, do not pester me with questions on how the search for them is going,” Vader told him, Luke nodded and zipped his mouth closed and pretended to throw away the key. 

“Okay! You got it!” He stuck out his thumb, “But- I can’t ask _any_ questions!? You sure!? I have some and I just-” Vader walked away mid-sentence, Luke trailed off and sighed as he followed Vader down the hall. He looked up at Lord Vader expectantly, “Uhm..”

“Don’t say a wo-”

“Do you think you could teach me how to read!?” Luke asked quickly, he knew Vader didn’t want him to speak but he had to ask. Vader stopped in his tracks and looked down at Luke.

“Teach you how to read?” Vader asked, “Do you know how long that takes? You could not possibly learn how to read in one night.”

“I-I just,” Luke paused, “I don’t want them to think I am stupid.”

“I have better things to do than to teach you how to read,” Vader said, “We are going to my conference room, I require you to stay silent and do not disturb me while I work.” 

Luke looked down, he was so confused. He thought when they went flying, Lord Vader was starting to like him. Now he was back to being mean to him, he didn’t understand. He tried to think back if he did something wrong, maybe he was rude for falling asleep on their flight in space. 

Luke sighed heavily as they walked towards Vader’s conference room, trying to think of a way to make Vader less annoyed at him. He would do his best to stay silent like Lord Vader had wanted him to. 

* * *

Vader was surprised by Luke, he had been mostly silent while he worked in his conference room. He definitely seemed antsy and wanted to say something, but kept it to himself. After a couple of hours of working in the conference room, Luke stepped towards him and began asking him how to read certain words on his datapad. While this was confidential and he needed to get his work done, he did end up spending a considerable amount of time teaching him some words. The rest of the night proceeded without incident, he had brought Luke back to his room that night and continued on the work he had barely made progress on. 

It was quite hard to focus when one was teaching a child words while also feeling a strong urge to just take the boy and run, he suppressed it to the best of his abilities. The feeling lingered at the back of his mind, ever-present, buzzing softly, threatening to take over his only thought. This...attachment had gone out of control, that much was clear. He naively believed it could be easily ignored, ignorance was truly bliss. 

That morning, he walked towards Luke’s room, trying to forget it was almost definitely going to be the last time he was going to be able to do that. He opened the door with a touch of the force and saw the boy on the floor folding his clothes excitedly, getting ready to pack his things. The boy didn’t notice Vader at first, his eyes flickered up towards him and smiled.

“Good morning!” He carried on with packing his clothes.

“What are you doing?” Vader asked as he stepped in Luke's room.

“I am packing my things for when my parents come,” Luke smiled, “I want to be ready for them.” He watched the boy continue to pack, Vader wasn’t sure why he found himself lingering in his bedroom, but he wanted to stay despite the piled up datapads sitting in his office. He straightened up, determined to not give in to his weak side.

“You may continue with your packing, I have things I must get back to, I only came in to check in on you,” Luke looked up at him, his eyes seemed slightly disappointed. 

“Y-You don’t want to stay?” Luke asked softly.

“Why would I want to do that?” Vader asked, Luke looked down at his packed clothing.

“Well, I just thought that-” Luke paused, “Since I was leaving and all, you would want to stay with me.” 

“Why would I want to stay just because you are leaving? What are you trying to say?” Vader took a step forward.

“Uhm.. It's just- I know I’ll miss you so maybe I thought you-”

“You thought I shall miss you?” Vader asked incredulously, it seemed no matter how cold he was to the boy, Luke held on tightly to Vader. Luke was attached to him, even if it seemed Vader blatantly showed he did not like Luke. It seemed the boy could see into Vaders most secret thoughts, about he would miss him, these feelings he did not want to have. It was time to prove to the boy- to himself, how he truly felt. “How mistaken you are, you have been a great disturbance to me since you have arrived.” Luke sniffled softly.

“Um..” He said quietly but Vader continued.

“It shall be a great relief once you are gone, then I may carry on without your presence.” He cringed at the words he was saying to the boy.

“I-I thought you were starting to like me…” Luke cried softly, looking down at the floor. Vader tightened his fists.

“You are greatly mistaken, there is not one part of me that is going to miss-,” Vader stopped, he found himself not able to finish what he was saying, he _couldn't_ finish. He looked down at the boy sadly but quickly straightened his demeanor, “I hope I have made my stance on you perfectly clear.” Luke didn’t respond, he just cried in front of him. 

And Vader hated the fact how much it hurt him to say that to Luke, he hated how he wanted to comfort Luke, he hated how much he knew all of what he said was untrue. 

Luke carried on, crying softly in his hands. Vader felt pressure swirl in his chest, the feeling was overwhelming, he had to leave now, he turned to the door and left. The dark side swirled around him, it gave him the strength he needed, the strength to not turn back. He powered down the hall, Luke’s presence was a gnawing feeling at the back of his skull. He was upset, his presence was considerably duller then he had ever felt before. His instincts told him one thing while his mind told him another. He knew better than to go back to Luke, but Luke’s sadness pained him through their bond. Leaving him to wonder one thing.

How would it feel when Luke died?

* * *

His com began to beep rapidly, he growled angrily as he picked it up and answered. 

“Lord Vader,” His PA began, “We have just been informed that the orphan's parents have been located and they will be reuniting with the boy shortly” Vader cut the com quickly, it was happening.

It was part of his job to be there, but he didn’t want to be. He was so conflicted inside, he had kept jumping back in forth between wanting to protect Luke and wanting nothing to do with him. He knew he shouldn’t care and thought forcing himself not to would work, but it hadn’t. 

If he was to show Sidious he did not care, he would have to be present to Luke meeting his fake parents. He stepped from his desk and left his office, he shielded his presence tightly in the force and tried to desperately suppress all of his mixed emotions swirling in him. He felt he may almost burst, he clutched his fists tightly as he walked down the hall.

He reached Luke’s room, he opened the door and walked in. The feeling of dread came over him when he saw Luke was not in his room. He had thought he was bringing Luke to the throne room personally, perhaps someone else transferred him. His bags were gone and his bed was made as if he was never here. He turned quickly to head back out the door but saw something on the desk, a holo projector with something wrapped in white tissue. 

He wandered over to the projector and lifted it with the force, he turned it on and saw Luke left a recording. The blue hologram of the boy flickered, Luke looked considerably less upset, he began to speak.

_ “Hello Lord Vader, er, goodbye I guess...Uhm- me and Piett have been waiting for you but I guess you aren’t coming to say goodbye. My parents are here!”  _ Lukes face lit up in the holo,  _ “I just wanted to say goodbye, I know you don’t like me much but I wanted to thank you for watching me during the week… It will mean more to me more then you’ll know.”  _ He paused, “ _ Since my parents are back for me, I wanted to leave you something to remember me, just like they did for me so I could remember them. Maybe when you’ll look back on it, you might remember the good in me. I don’t need the necklace anymore.”  _ Luke sniffled softly.

_ “Goodbye, Lord Vader, maybe we’ll see each other again someday.” _ The holo was cut, fear whipped him up and down, adrenaline-filled his very core. He reached out for the second time to Luke through their bond, he was not far, he had not left yet. He was still alive, he must have left his room only moments ago. Just as he was about to go to the throne room he eyed the tissue.

He picked it up and stared at the tissue only for a moment before he began to unwrap it, once the necklace was fully revealed, he felt the _japor snippet_ stare right back at him as if it had eyes of its own. Everything in his mind fell into place, instantly everything made sense with this necklace, the necklace  _ he made _ . The necklace the boy had been wearing, claiming it to be his-

_Parents necklace_.

He clutched the japor snippet tightly as he turned to exit the room quickly. His cape billowed behind him as he flew down the hall, he had to stop what was happening, he had to stop Sidious and he had to see Luke. 

He was sure nothing in the Galaxy could stop him right now, nothing could defeat Vaders strong will, he was determined to save Luke, his- his son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He knows! And Luke is in a lot of danger so of course Dad Vader will be freaking out next chapter and Luke is oblivious to all the shit that's about to happen! 
> 
> Thank you Aaveena, Cryptidneet and SilverDaye for the advice! 
> 
> And thank you all so much for reading! Next chapter should be soon! Please let me know what you thought! I love your feedback!


	8. When Daddy Meanbucks saves his Orphan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh!! Nervous for this chapter!! <3

Luke awkwardly waved goodbye to Piett and smiled, Piett smiled back, looking down to him. “Goodbye, Luke.”

“Bye, Piett,” Luke said softly, he felt anxiety rise in his chest as he placed his hands on the throne room doors. His parents were behind there, waiting for him, this moment was what he has been waiting for his entire life. Now that it was here, he wanted to try and remember every second, so he wouldn’t forget the happiest moment of his life. 

He pushed the doors open and his eyes instantly fell on the man and woman standing beside the Emperor. He gasped softly to himself, he found he was frozen in his place, the blonde woman walked up a couple of steps towards him and bent down slightly.

“Luke?” She asked in a whisper, it sounded grateful like she had been waiting for this moment just as long as he had. He sniffled softly, trying not to cry in front of them. But it was so hard, all he wanted his whole life was to hear his parents say his name, to hug him. His dreams were coming true. He thought stuff like this only happened in holo-books, he must be the luckiest kid in the galaxy. 

“M-Mom?” Luke asked as he stepped forward, then the man beside her walked up to Luke.

“Hello, son.” Luke could feel tears stream easily down his cheeks, he shook slightly of pure joy and excitement. 

“Dad-” He whispered to himself, they looked at him as he had always wanted them to, like they loved him. He ran up to them and hugged his mother, she felt stiff and stilted for a moment before she hugged him back. His father tousled his hair, “We missed ya, Luke.”

“I missed you too-” Luke said, his voice wavering as he held back heavy sobs. He wanted to stay in this moment forever, he had never been so happy. 

“Well, I must say, in all of my years as the Emperor, this must be the best thing I have seen.” The Emperor cut in, they all turned their attention to him. 

“Thank you so much,” His father said in a grateful tone, “This means- the galaxy to us.”

“It is the least I could do,” The Emperor smiled, “Please, take your child, live together after years of separation.” 

“You are absolutely right, well son, are you ready to go?” His father asked, Luke nodded but kept his eyes trained on the throne room doors. He wanted to say goodbye to Lord Vader personally, and for some reason, he felt he was near, all around him. How that was possible with him not physically being here was a mystery, but with his…  _ presence _ he couldn’t stop thinking about him. 

“Let's go, Luke.” His mother said softly, she gently brushed her hands through his hair. Luke smiled, a tear trickled down his cheek. He whipped his cheeks and bowed to the Emperor.

“Thank you! Thank you so much, for everything, your highness.” Luke bowed deeply, just as Sidious was about to speak a loud thunk came from outside of the throne room doors. Luke’s eyes darted over, there was some sort of commotion outside. Luke took a step back, his heart began to race. The Emperor looked from Luke to his parents.

“Go now,” He said blankly to his parents, he turned to an Imperial guard, “Escort them to my personal hangar.” An Imperial guard walked swiftly towards them and led them through a side door, the commotion was getting louder from behind the main throne room doors. He did not need any more persuading, he followed his parents and Imperial guard, his heart racing slightly. What was out there? And why did it want to be in the throne room so eagerly? 

* * *

Apparently, Vader was not a wanted guest in the throne room. The Emperor's Imperial guards tried their best to keep him back but were no match to him, their bodies laid sprawled on the floor, Vader knew this was only the beginning of the challenge. There were more Imperial Guards to come along, in addition, the Emperor. He suspected as to why the Emperor was not allowing him in the throne room, perhaps it was because of the bond Luke and Vader shared, hopefully, that is all he knew. 

He was entrenched in the dark side, it pulsated around him, his mind trained on one thing. Getting to Luke, he wrapped around the boy's presence tightly, closely monitoring his mood. Luke felt emotional, he was sure it was because of his fake set of parents. The very thought of people pretending to be Lukes's parents sent him spiraling, he clipped his lightsaber back on his utility belt and felt the boy's presence begin to move. Alarm rushed through him, the throne doors flew open, slamming against the walls. He stormed through the entrance and saw the Emperor standing in the center.

“Lord Vader,” Sidious said cooly, “How unfortunate, you have just missed the departure of-”

“Where is he?!” Vader asked as he walked towards Sidious, “Where is Luke?” Sidious’s face screwed in a sour expression.

“He is with his  _ parents _ , Lord Vader,” Sidious replied, his eyes narrowed on Vader. The sound of tightening leather cried out from his clenching fists. 

“Master, Luke is-”

“I know,” Sidious said plainly, Vader tightened his mental shields quickly. He only felt a brief moment of shock before realizing who he was dealing with. Sidious often knew more than he let on. “I’ve known since the day Luke burned his hand, when a droid made a medical profile for him.”

“How did a medical profile-”

“The droid drew blood from the boy,” Sidious paused, “I get alerted through my own private network when the blood of a Jedi or relative enters Imperial medical systems.” A smile crept onto Sidious’s face, “In this case, I was alerted of a family member related to the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker.”

“He is just a boy!” Vader replied.

“He won’t be a boy forever, Lord Vader. I am sure you know the potential he will have to  _ destroy _ us. Destroy everything  _ we _ have worked for, think of what you have sacrificed for this power! Do not let those sacrifices be for nothing.” Vader attempted to hold himself back, anger coursed through his veins. He couldn’t even muster the ability to reply, the anger was so overwhelming. Sidious looked at him curiously, “Have you grown-  _ attached _ to this boy?” Sidious asked with disgust, “If you have, that is only more of a reason to kill him- he is a weakness, Lord Vader. He will hold you back, that is unacceptable.” 

He could only remember one other incident in his life that had caused him to be this intensely angry, the moment he believed his wife died of his own hands when he thought his child had died with her. His child did not die, he had lived- but his death could be any second. Any moment, he could feel his son's life force pass on, he couldn’t bear to think how much it would shatter him. 

He clenched his fists tightly, the ceiling of the throne room cracked, splitting in large chunks, a mist of debris floated to the floor, covering the glossy marble in grey dust. “He- is  _ not  _ weakness,” Vader hissed angrily, fury swelled in his chest, the force whispered quickly to him, promising him victory. He yanked at the force, willing it to his bidding. 

“Lord Vader, you are already giving in- do you not see it?” Sidious asked, “If you truly were devoted to the way of the Sith, you would see what I was doing for you was a blessing. He is no longer a disturbance to you, a threat, he will be as good as dead any mome-” Sidious stopped suddenly mid-sentence, the throne room was shaking softly, a buzz traveled through the room. 

Vader reached out, pulled a chunk of the ceiling and without thinking slammed it hard on his master in front of him. Instantly, the four Imperial Guards that were stationed in the four corners of the throne room activated their force pikes and began to rush towards Vader. With little effort, he lifted all four of the guards and threw them back, slamming their bodies against the throne room walls. Their impact echoed through the room, the walls cracked from the force of the act. 

His blood pumped quickly through his body, the dark side of the force mixed with his adrenaline did not allow him a moment to reflect on what had just happened. He didn’t have time to, he had to go and save his son, he still grasped tightly on the boy's force presence. He quickly stormed out of the throne room, following in the direction he felt where his son was. 

* * *

Luke boarded the speeder his parents told him to, “So- where do we live?” Luke asked excitedly. He watched his mom and dad board the front seats, they began to whisper to each other. “Uhm- where do we li-”

“Oh you’ll see,” His mother said quickly, she paused, “Your- _dad_ and I have some things to discuss, so- be a good boy and be quiet for right now?” Luke’s smile disappeared, it seemed he had already annoyed his parents. Would they grow to think he was an annoyance? A nuisance? Would they be as annoyed by him as Vader was? 

He sunk in his seat as the speeder rose, he looked out the window as his parents continued to whisper quickly to each other. Luke looked up to the sky and saw the sun again, "Oh- Oh! I saw the sun for the first time a week ago!!" 

They didn't reply, almost as if they were ignoring him. He sighed, if he wasn’t allowed to speak or have a conversation with them, then he would just listen in their conversation. Adults always kept secrets from him, he didn’t want his parents to as well. He sat up straight in his seat and leaned over slightly to hear their whispers. 

“You remember the location we chose, right?” His father whispered quickly.

“Yes- we should be there shortly.” His mother replied. “I wish we were given more time to plan.”

“Just remember how much money this is all worth,” His father laughed softly, Luke was more than a little confused. 

“Location? Money? What are you guys-”

“Are you listening in on us!?” His father asked as he looked back at Luke with a menacing glare. Luke’s eyes widened, not expecting this backlash.

“I-I-Uhm, yes..” Luke sputtered, his father scrunched his face in anger and looked to his mother.

“The little shits been listening to us!” Luke watched them both in horror, his mother looked at Luke incredulously and back to his father.

“Who cares, we already have him- we don’t have to keep up the act any longer.”

“Act?” Luke's voice wavered, “What?..”

“Your parents are dead, kid.” The man said plainly, “You're delusional to think any different.” Luke looked at him petrified, 

"Y-You aren't my dad!?" Luke asked, fear and heartbreak striking his heart.

"-And I'm not your mom," The woman replied, his head began to spin. He was so confused, what were they doing? Why was he with them? He began to breathe heavily, he anxiously looked out the window down at the city. What was he going to do? 

The man and the woman continued to whisper with each other, Luke felt as if he was going to cry. He did his best to hold it in and seem calm, though, it wasn’t exactly in his nature to do so. He was trying to think of a plan to get out of this. It seemed like only one idea kept repeating and popping in his head, he had no idea if it would work but he had nothing to lose. 

“Uhm..” He muttered, “I-I have to go to the bathroom.” He said, the woman scoffed.

“I don’t care.”

“But I really have to go! Like bad!” He emphasized, the man looked to the woman with a slightly concerned look on his face.

“I don’t want this kid ruining my speeder,” He muttered, the woman scoffed incredulously.

“No- I don’t care, I want to get this job done and-”

“When you gotta go you gotta go!” Luke interrupted, “Pleaaase!” 

“Fine- Fine I am flying down, but don’t think you can run off,” The man said angrily, he lowered the speeder down to the surface of the city. It worked! His heart began to race nervously, now was the time to try and escape. The speeder landed on an elevated landing pad that led down to a crowded street, people walked up and down in large groups. Neon lights cast a blue glow over them from the advertisements displayed on the buildings they passed. 

“Okay kid, get out of my speeder,” The man said as he opened Lukes door. Luke stepped out, looked up at the man, took a deep breath and stomped down hard on his foot and pushed the man with as much strength as he could muster. The man wobbled over and grunted at the push, Luke turned on his heels and dashed away quickly down the landing pad ramp and onto the city street.

He ran and ran and from the landing pad, he heard the man scream clearly in the distance, “I’m gonna kill that kid!” 

Luke felt his heart jump from his chest, he ran through the crowd, passing every person he saw. He bumped into a few people, he would have apologized but he didn’t have the time. He turned his head, he saw the man and the woman pushing through the crowd behind him. He teared up, he thought he might have lost them in the crowd, but now they were following him. 

Tears streamed down his face, he quickly turned down an alleyway. His feet splashed in small pools of water, steam drifted from pipes attached to the buildings. He heard rapid footsteps behind him, he turned again and saw the woman pulled out a blaster. He screamed in fear, he tripped slightly but pushed himself up and kept going.

He turned another corner down another alleyway, his eyes widened when he saw it led to a dead-end, but kept running. He was breathing heavily, he felt his feet hurt but couldn’t stop, suddenly, a sharp pain blasted at his leg. He fell face-first on the wet pavement, his leg stinging, he reached down towards it but looked up to see the men and woman standing over him. 

He scrambled back, trying to distance himself from them. He was crying, there was no holding back. She held the blaster up to Luke, he looked up at them terrified. “P-Please-” He muttered, “Someone help!” He yelled out.

“No ones coming to save you,” The man sneered, “This is the end for you.”

The man’s eyes widened and traveled up, looking at something, something terrifying. The woman dropped her blaster, her hand shaking. They both backed up slowly, Luke was about to look up and see what they were so terrified of but was distracted when a large black figure jumped in front of him, their cape blowing in the wind. 

The dark figure pulled their blasters from their hand with just the flick of his wrists and shoved them against the wall with no physical contact, Luke watched with wide eyes. It was Lord Vader! Vader placed binders on both of them and then pushed them down to the ground, then, several stormtroopers came rushing down the alley. Vader turned to address them.

“Detain these criminals, bring them to the Detention Center,” Vader ordered, "I will interrogate them personally."

“Yes, Lord Vader,” the stormtrooper replied, other troopers began to pick the man and woman up and started walking down the alleyway. Vader walked up to Luke slowly, looking down on him. Luke looked up to him wide-eyed.

“L-Lord Va-”

“You are hurt,” Vader stated, Luke looked down at his blaster wound, he had almost forgotten about it during the commotion. Waves of pain began to come back, he cried out softly. Then, something strange happened, Vader bent over and scooped him up, one arm under his knees and the other supporting his neck. 

Luke stiffened, not sure why this was happening, “Uhm-” He muttered, “What-”

“Quiet, young one, you must rest,” Vader interrupted, gripped him slightly tighter and instantly Luke felt waves of relief. His blaster wound not hurting as much as it once did, he relaxed his head on Vader's chest plate. He felt safe, calm, he wasn’t sure why this sudden wave of soothness came over him. 

  
  


Vader turned out of the alley and back onto the main road where Luke was running only moments ago. The once packed street was now calm and quiet. The crowd formed a large opening for Vader and the stormtroopers to walk through. Luke looked up to Vader, “You saved my life.” Luke smiled.

“And I would do it again,” Vader replied, Luke was about to ask what was going on when he felt more tired than he ever had before. It was a struggle to keep his eyelids open and despite his struggle to stay awake, he couldn’t.

Suddenly, he was asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeyyyy! I really hoped you liked this!!! I am so nervous haha! I hope I executed this well enough!
> 
> Yes! Luke and Vader are back together! Poor Luke had some emotional whiplash this chapter haha! 
> 
> Thank you so so much for reading! Let me know what you thought!!
> 
> Tumblr:https://skyguyy.tumblr.com/   
> Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_skyyguyy_/


	9. I Don't Need Anything But You!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yesterday was plain awful! But thats not now! Thats then!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking a while for the update, my work and school load was a lot at the moment! But here is the final chapter!

“Must have been a construction error,” Vader said to the man who ran the construction group that came to fix the throne room.

“I-I am not sure- from what I’ve seen it doesn’t show any sign of-” The construction man sputtered nervously, but Vader interrupted him.

“I did not ask for any of your idle commentary, continue to clean and fix the throne room, and do not bother me any further,” Vader replied, staring the man down.

“Of course my lord,” The man bowed, “It will probably take up to two to three weeks to fully fix all the damage that has occurred.”

“Very well,” Vader sighed, the man walked off down the hall towards the throne room. The palace was absolute chaos, the Emperor had died. He had _killed_ his master, it was part of the centuries-long tradition the Sith upheld. Something he was destined to do at some point or another, to carry on and become the master to his apprentice. But he had not killed his master for tradition, to honor the sith.

He killed Sidious for his son. 

_Luke_ , his son, who was currently in the med bay down the hall from where he was currently. Vader held up his hand, holding the necklace Luke brought. Looking at it brought unwanted memories, memories of carving each small design for…

It was nothing he wanted to remember. But knowing it belonged to Luke, to his son, _their_ son. He felt something swell in his chest, it was complicated to file each emotion he felt. Repressing emotions made everything he felt feel like a blur, but he was sure it wasn’t what a Sith Lord would feel. He was sure Sidious would sneer at Vader, calling him weak, he could practically hear and feel the disgust in his master's voice. 

He was about to get back to work, knowing it would be a useful distraction for the whirlwind of thoughts that assaulted his brain. He was going to try to organize the mess the Palace had fallen to, but he then felt Luke’s end of the bond slowly glow brighter. He was waking up, Vader instantly turned on his heels, the palace could wait. 

He walked down the hall through the rushed crowd, Imperial workers running in either direction trying to make sense of everything that was going on. Despite the chaos, they managed to make room for Vader, knowing it was always best not to get into his way. 

Vader reached the medbay and opened the door with the force, he had placed Imperial guards in front of the medbay that were not at the scene of the Emperor's demise. For all they knew, it was a tragic accident. Vader would use this distraction for his son to move in with him. 

If only he knew what the boy was thinking, he could find out through mind reading but he decided invading his sons privacy was not the best way to start off their relationship. 

* * *

Luke’s eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the bright fluorescent light, his vision slightly blurred. He looked side to side, his head propped up on a small stack of soft pillows, he slowly moved to sit up and slowly realized he was in some type of med bay, he assumed at least. His head pounded slightly, he ran his hand through his hair, trying to remember what happened the previous night. 

He didn’t remember much, a lot of running, he remembered being scared. The medbay doors slid open, Luke looked up quickly to see Lord Vader standing in the doorway, his eyes widened and instantly remembered Lord Vader had saved him. Vader just stood in the doorway, staring at Luke.

Luke waited for him to come in, but it seemed Vader was frozen in his spot. “You can come in,” Luke smiled softly.

“Yes- of course,” Vader replied, he swiftly walked in and stood next to Luke, looking down on him. “Are you feeling well?” Luke was slightly shocked that Vader asked how he was doing, though he felt his shock may not be valid seeing as Vader saved his life. He must care for his well being, although he was not sure why. Vader said himself he was a burden to Vader.

Luke nodded slowly, “Yeah,” He shifted in his bed and felt a stinging from his leg, “Owch!” Luke cried.

“A bacta patch is healing your blaster wound as we speak, it will take only a couple days for it to be completely healed, you may have a small scar.” Luke nodded as the pain subsided, an awkward silence grew between them, Luke then looked up to Vader.

“Uhm...Why did you save me?” Luke asked, “I don’t understand, I thought you didn’t like me.”

“I was, perhaps, too harsh with you, young one. I do not dislike you,” Vader paused, “I believe this is yours.” Vader held out his hand and dropped his necklace on Luke's lap. 

Luke picked it up, examining it, the carvings made on the small block. He felt his heart sink to his stomach, tears rushed to his eyes and trickled down his cheeks. “They’re dead, aren’t they?” Luke whispered, his voice wavering and barely audible. “Those weren’t my real parents, they never loved me….” Luke paused, “Maybe my real parents didn’t either...that's why they got rid of me.” 

“That is a very simple way of looking at the situation- you do not understand everything that happened that led you to be at the orphanage.” 

“You don’t get it!” Luke protested, he felt all the kept up frustration from waiting for his parents began to bubble to the surface, “I-I sometimes stayed up all night trying to see if they were walking down the street, looking for the orphanage in the dark!” Luke cried, he looked down shaking his head wearily. “It was all for nothing…” Luke mumbled, a tear streaked down his cheek. 

“Luke, I must tell you something-”

“What!? That crying is weakness or something?” Luke wiped a tear from his cheek, Vader seemed taken aback by Lukes new demeanor.

“Listen to me, young one,” Vader insisted, pointing at Luke.

“No! Why should I? You don’t understand-”

“Luke, I am your father.” 

Luke's eyes widened, he suddenly lost the ability to speak or articulate thought. His mind began to spin, he’d have fallen over if he wasn’t sitting back in his medical bed. His eyes looked up and down Vader, scanning him, he swallowed hard. “Wha-?” 

“I know it is shocking news, young one,” Vader said, “I was shocked when I found out as well.” 

“My father..” Luke mumbled to himself, he looked at the necklace then back to Vader. “When did you find out?”

“When you left that necklace for me to remember you by,” Vader said, “I saw it just as I was leaving to get you from the Emperor.” 

“So- you're really my father? Are you sure?” Luke asked as he furrowed his eyebrows, he then sucked in a nervous breath, “You aren’t trying to trick me like those other guys are you!?” 

“No, I am not tricking you. I am your father, we can take a blood test if that is what you require.” Luke thought about this for a moment, despite all reason he felt he had already accepted Vader as his father, but he couldn’t let himself be so gullible. 

Luke nodded confidently, “Yes, I want to see proof!” 

“Very well,” He watched as Vader walked over to the med droid, he began to wonder if proof was even necessary at this point. If Vader was willing to do a blood test, wasn’t that enough to hint that Vader was really... “Conduct a DNA test between myself and Luke.” The droid's eyes lit up.

“At once, Lord Vader.” 

A screen on the droid lit up showing a progress bar, Luke watched intently, he felt his heart begin to pound against his ribcage. Finally, the screen finished loading and displayed numbers, bar graphs and percentages. Vader pointed to a word on the screen.

“You see this word? Do you know what this says?” Vader asked, Luke shook his head pathetically, “It says _match_ , meaning we are related. I am your father, young one.” Luke looked down at the hospital bed sheets, fiddling with his hands. This was all so much, he was almost kidnapped by people who pretended to be his parents. Now, Lord Vader, someone he thought didn’t like him _was_ his father.

Something in him felt like a light was sparked, waves of confirmation and certainty to Vader being his father filled his being, almost making it impossible to disbelieve him. He didn’t understand why he felt so strongly, he looked up to Vader.

“I-” His eyes started watering, “I can’t believe it, you're really my father…” he looked down, “Why- Why did you give me up? Put me in an orphanage?” 

“I was not aware you were born,” His father said, “You were taken from me before I could learn of your birth, I would have never given you up, my son.” Luke nodded slowly.

“You must continue to rest.” Vader lifted his hand, commanding Lukes bedsheets to pull up on Luke.

“B-But I still have so many questions!” Luke complained, “Like- Why were you so mean to me?” Luke asked, he had other more important questions he wanted to ask, like about his mother and the Emperor but this was the first one that popped into his head. It spit out of him like word vomit, maybe it was because he had been wondering why he was so nasty to Luke the entire week, it seemed almost targeted. Luke had done nothing to him.

“I treated you as I treat anyone else.” His father said, Luke furrowed his brows.

“Well- it's mean! You shouldn’t treat people like that!”

“I must apologize for my actions to you, young one.” he paused, “I realize my actions are unforgivable.” 

“Well- I don't think anything is unforgivable, but still it was rude to treat me like that!" Some of the older kids at the orphanage warned Luke that people would use his forgiving nature to walk all over him. Even if he was mad at Vader right now, he knew the anger would subside and forgive him, because nothing was unforgivable.

“You are quite optimistic.” 

“So- can I ask some more questions?” Luke asked, wanting questions to the millions of questions that buzzed in his head.

“No- you must rest,” His father insisted.

“Pllleeaaaaassseeee!” Luke begged, his father sighed heavily.

“Fine, but only a few more questions then you _must_ rest." His father insisted

Luke took in a heavy, nervous breath, “Uhm... my mother- who is she? Where is she?” His father stood there, practically like a statue. 

“I must go back to work, and you, young one, must rest,” His father said with a finality in his voice. “Answering questions is turning out to be more laborious then I previously had thought.”

“Wait!” Luke shot up in his bed, “But you said I could ask another question!” 

“Luke,” He paused, a long and uncomfortable silence passed through the room. Luke looked at his father expectantly, “It is- difficult for me to speak about my past,” His father said slowly, Luke’s eyes dimmed, his eyes glazed with disappointment. 

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“There is no need to apologize- it is only natural to be curious-.” His father paused, Luke waited patiently and watched his father as he came towards Luke. 

“You are very much like her, Luke.” 

“Wow..” Luke whispered to himself, “I-I am happy to finally be with you, father.” His father staggered somewhat.

“Well- as I stated several times previously, you must rest.” Luke smiled and nodded, “We shall have your personal items sent to my palace.” Luke's eyes lit up.

“Oh- Oh do ya think we could go flying soon!?” Luke asked.

“Once you start feeling better, you shall be focusing your energy on education not flying.”

“Huh??” Luke asked, “No way is education is as much fun as flying!” 

“I think you shall find the entire galaxy would agree with that statement,” His father turned to leave.

“Goodbye, father! See you soon!” He watched as his father left the medbay, he was smiling brighter than ever. He finally had his father, even when it seemed all was lost when it came to finding his parents. He could practically cry, this was his dream come true. 

He wondered how many other kids in the galaxy had long lost parents, he knew how they felt. Sometimes you just want to give up waiting. Luke smiled, knowing that if he could find his long lost parent, anyone else could too. 

* * *

_Epilogue_

Luke anxiously paced a small circular waiting room that led out to a large balcony that looked over what Luke had to have guessed was the entirety of Coruscant. He focused on the intricate designs of the old rug that lay below his feet, his father observed him from across the room. 

“There is nothing to be anxious about, young one.” 

“The whole Empire is out there and they are gonna watch me be crowned!” Luke flailed his arms in the air, “All staring at me!” 

“Pay no mind to them,” His father advised, he didn’t think his father was gonna understand, he didn’t seem to care what people thought about him. 

“I’ll try…” He mumbled to himself, the crowd outside burst into applause, Luke tensed up staring at the large windows. 

“It is time, are you ready?”

“Noooo!” Luke cried. 

“Take you time, young one,” His father said as he walked towards him, “But I am confident you shall do fine.” Luke looked down and nodded. Luke took in a couple deep breathes, trying to clear his mind.

“I am ready,” Luke forced, he wanted to get this over with. Luke suspected the anticipation was making his anxiety worse. His father placed his hand on Luke’s back and led him to the balcony doors. 

Never did he think when he was an orphan that he would be staring out over all of Coruscant with all of them cheering for him. He felt his stomach flip a million times over, looking out over the people. Being crowned prince of an Empire was slightly nerve-wracking, to say the least. It made him want to curl up in a little ball and hide. 

Being prince seemed to bring on a whole set of issues Luke never considered. Public opinion was important, going to school and doing well was important, and now being crowned prince was important. But he would take these new sets of challenges over the orphanage any day, as long as his father was with him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone that read this story! I loved writing it so much and considering writing a sequel where Vader finds Leia through a different musical, I was thinking Mamma Mia but instead of a wedding it was a birthday party. 
> 
> Let me know if that is something you would be interested in!
> 
> Thank you all for reading! Let me know what you thought!! I love your feedback!!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you thought, I love hearing feedback!


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